There were working ketches operating on Lake Päijänne as early as the beginning of the 19th century. They mostly transported timber for the mills. The Jämsänkoski sawmill is known to have had a yawl with a mast as early as 1811. In the year 1834, the patron E. I. Längman had a three-mast ketch built for transporting timber. The first steam ships appeared on Päijänne around the Crimean War, and the last ketches made way for the 'fire ships' in the 1870s. Tugboat traffic in the Jämsä area increased significantly along with the development of the pulp and paper industries in Jämsänkoski. The materials and products of the factory mainly travelled along water routes on barges pulled by tugboats. (See also Museum24>At work>Timber industry)

This section introduces the tugboats that have operated mainly in the Jämsä area.

Introductory text: Juhani Heikka
Source: Suur-Jämsän historia osa 2., 1962