“Despite of complicated year and challenges faced, the Port of Klaipėda ended 2020 with great success. Although final data from other ports is not yet available, it is obvious that Klaipėda should look good not only among the ports of Eastern Europe but also throughout Europe. Our strength lies with cargo diversification. In other words, the port is customized to handle various types of cargo. This allows maintaining good results and outperform competitors which handle one or just a few types of cargo. Long-term and continuous investment in the port infrastructure and in the technological development of the terminals are another important factor. Klaipeda does this consistently. From 2007 to the present day, about half a billion euros have been invested in the port infrastructure, not to mention technologies that have been installed by private stevedoring companies“, – told Algis Latakas, CEO of Klaipėda State Seaport Authority.
Last year, the best ever result was achieved in as many as four cargo categories. The highest growth was recorded in fertilizer, grain, ro-ro, liquefied natural gas (LNG) segments. Grain handling volumes increased the most - compared to 2019, a third bigger amount of grain was handled last year. There has also been a significant increase in an amount of fertilizer. Handling of fertilizer increased by 12%. Last year, the volume of ro-ro cargo in the Port of Klaipėda was approximately 8% higher than in 2019. The LNG segment also grew slightly. Last year, when mobility of people was restricted and production was suspended due the pandemic, the turnover of petroleum products and consumer goods in containers decreased. Volumes of petroleum product handling fell by a fifth, last year, the number of handled containers was about a tenth less than in the year before.
Last year, about one and a half thousand ships called in the Port of Klaipėda, which is about 5% less than the year before. Unfortunately, but no cruise ship was able to call in the port due to the pandemic.
