The Maritime Centre Vellamo is the most architecturally interesting building in Kotka — a swooping, wave-shaped structure on the Kantasatama waterfront that houses the Maritime Museum of Finland, the Kymenlaakso Regional Museum, and the Coast Guard Museum. Three institutions under one dramatic roof make this a full half-day.
The Maritime Museum is the main draw: it covers Finland's seafaring history from the age of wooden sailing ships through modern container shipping, with particular attention to the lives of ordinary sailors and dock workers rather than naval heroics. The Kymenlaakso collection documents the history of the region, including the significant Russian imperial period. The building's café has one of the better waterfront views in Kotka, and the shop stocks good maritime prints and maps.