“Increasing the depth of the port channel is akin to widening a street. The throughput of the port to the city and the efficiency of the use of this infrastructure increase, and because larger vessels can be accommodated and loaded more, freight transit times as well as transportation costs decrease. This project will undoubtedly contribute to making the Port of Klaipėda more competitive. On the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, ports compete with maximum parameters in order to accommodate the largest vessels that come into the Baltic Sea. The depth is one of the most important factors for the competitiveness of ports,” says Minister of Transport and Communications Marius Skuodis.
Target investments are one of the main factors enabling the port to grow cargo throughput and generate benefits and returns for the state. A depth of 15.5 metres was reached in an almost 9-kilometre stretch of the Port of Klaipėda ship channel, and a depth of 16 metres was achieved in an outer 1.7 km stretch of the ship channel in a new direction outside the port gate.
The total value of the Port of Klaipėda dredging project comes to EUR 94.1 million, including VAT. EUR 28 million were allocated to the project from the European Union Cohesion Fund. Another EUR 9.9 million were allocated to the project from the government budget under the contract signed with the Ministry of Transport and Communications on 30 November 2022. The remaining part of the project was financed by the Seaport Authority.
“Every centimetre of depth at the Port of Klaipėda is worth its weight in gold. It’s estimated that one centimetre of depth allows an additional 100 tonnes of cargo to be loaded on a Panamax-type ship, which means direct benefits for the state and each and every one of us. Previous investments in the dredging of Malkų Bay are generating significant changes in loading. From 2017 to 2023, the handling volumes at the terminals in Malkų Bay increased from 6.3 to 9.2 million tonnes. We expect this dredging project to enable us to record cargo growth rates in the near future as well,” says Klaipėda State Seaport Authority Director General Algis Latakas of the benefits of dredging for the port.
Charts are also currently being changed to help seafarers navigate safely in ports, seas and other bodies of water. When the Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration updates the publications in the beginning of May, the harbour master will issue an order to increase the maximum permissible draught in the Port of Klaipėda channel to 14.3 metres. It is currently 13.8 metres.
“This dredging project is also a historical event. The Port of Klaipėda never had a draught of 14.3 metres before. Increasing the maximum permissible draught by half a metre will make it possible to load ships more fully in the port and thereby simultaneously increase the efficiency of the transport chain. During the dredging, the entrance bend was reduced in the outer part of the port’s ship channel, and the underwater part of the inner channel was widened by 50 metres – from 150 to 200. All this for the safety of large vessels sailing and manoeuvring in the port,” says Port of Klaipėda harbour master Vladas Motiejūnas.
The inner Port of Klaipėda ship channel was deepened to 15.5 metres by the Dutch company Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors B.V. The company, which excavated almost 2 million cubic metres of soil, completed the work in 2 1/2 months, or 74 days ahead of the main contract deadline.
Deepening of the outer Port of Klaipėda ship channel to 16 metres and part of the inner channel to 15.5 metres was done by the Belgian harbour dredging and cleaning company Jan de Nul N.V., operating under a joint venture agreement with Baggerwerken Decloedt en Zoon N.V. The company, which completed the work 79 days – or almost three months – ahead of the main contract deadline, excavated a total of 1.8 million cubic metres of soil. During the implementation of this project, a ship channel in a new direction was formed underwater at the entrance to the port, and its width was increased.
“This project is a success story. Both contractors completed the work significantly faster than the dates on paper. The successful implementation of the project was conditioned by competent contractors and the coordination of work execution and other technological processes on the part of the Seaport Authority employees directly responsible for the implementation of the project, as well as communication with municipal and other state institutions and research workers,” says Seaport Authority Director General Algis Latakas.
Dredging of the outer and part of the inner ship channel of the Port of Klaipėda was also connected with the formation of an underwater embankment at the Melnragė I beach. Approximately 180,000 cubic metres of sandy soil were used for the formation of an underwater embankment at Melnragė I. This shoreline management measure was meant to replenish the beach with sand, which also creates favourable conditions for dune ridge regeneration. The sand poured under the water near the shore is gradually washed ashore and carried by the wind to the dune ridge. In the coastal area at Melnragė, the Seaport Authority filled the beach with sand for the first time during the dredging of the ship channel.
This project also provides for the installation of new beacons in the Port of Klaipėda, which are necessary for ships to safely enter the port if the direction of the entrance channel changes due to the dredging. A 50-metre-high tower is already being assembled in the port area leased by Klaipėdos Nafta, and in the area used by KLASCO, the foundations for a tower have been put in and a 70-metre-high tower will be erected in the near future.
According to the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority strategic plan, further dredging of the port waters to a depth of 17 metres is planned for 2026.
