Following its plans on becoming a greener port, Port of Riga expects the arrival of the first two 100% LNG-powered vessels Containerships Polar and Containerships Nord owned by the CMA CGM group container line, that will call the port three times a week, while the port also expects a third LNG vessel in autumn.
The two LNG vessels that will arrive at the port are two of the the largest container vessels that will regularly call the port, forecasting that the volume of container cargo will also increase.
Kristaps Jakovļevs, the manager of Containerships in Latvia and Estonia stated
In the nearest future, we also plan to introduce an LNG car fleet in Latvia, reducing the environmental impact and shifting towards 100% green logistics.
He continued that the new LNG vessels that arrive at the port will have a larger tonnage, enabling the vessel to better-assist customers and improve their service, whereas allow Latvian exporters to make a better plan for their supply chains and cargo volumes to the UK, Benelux countries, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
In the meantime, Mārtiņš Ziemanis, Deputy CEO of the Freeport of Riga, added that the frequency of the LNG vessels’ arrival is in line with the port’s plan which is based on global trends. One goal the port has set is to increase the number of handled containers, and also use environmentally-friendly technologies.
The development programme adopted last year sets an ambitious goal: increasing the volume of container cargo to 1 million handled TEU units per year in 10 years.
… stated Mr Ziemanis.
Thus, as it seems the port’s volume is increasing with a stability, reflecting that the port’s goal is easy to accomplish.
Concluding, the first six months of 2019, the port managed to achieve record-high turnover by handling 238.2 TEU units, which is 5.6 % more than a year ago.
