Klaipeda State Seaport is the northern ice-free port on the Baltic Sea’s east coast in Lithuania. It is a multi-purpose deep-water port with annual cargo-handling capacity of 40 million tons. Operating year-round, 24 hours a day, Klaipeda State Seaport is connected to such important industrial hinterlands as Russia, Byelorussia, and Ukraine. It is on the major shipping routes between Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Americas, and Southeast Asia.
Port History
In 1252 AD, Klaipeda castle was built and merchants from Lubeck and Bremen used the small nearby port for trade. In the mid-16th Century, Danzig rivals loaded the port with stones, blocking it from trade with large vessels until 1820. A famous timber trade office was established there in 1743. A 1797 document talks about the Port of Klaipeda as including the Dane river port and a large basin in the Curonian Lagoon that could handle over 300 vessels.
When Germany lost World War I, the Klaipeda State Seaport was transferred to Antante Alliance, when France’s Prime Minister declared it a Lithuanian port. After the 1924 signing of the Klaipeda Convention, management of the port was passed to a directorate including the Lithuanian State, the Klaipeda region, and the Union of Nations. From 1924 to 1939, Klaipeda State Seaport enjoyed a period of growth. New quays were built, new companies opened, and the Lithuanian Shipping Company was founded. The new International Ferry Terminal was built in 1986 to serve the Soviet Army in Germany.
Port Commerce
In 1991, the state-owned Klaidepa State Seaport Authority was created, and it has managed the port since 1993. Before Lithuania’s independence in 1991, there were to distinct ports: one for commercial trade and one for fishing. The SE Klaipeda State Seaport Authority is responsible for coordinating the safety of the port and navigation, maintaining and managing port territories, leasing land territory within the port, collecting port dues, preparing strategy and development projects, overseeing construction projects, preventing pollution, maintaining and developing port infrastructure and port water depths, and organizing social services for seafarers.
Today, the Klaipeda State Seaport covers 415 hectares. Warehouses serving the multi-purpose, container, and roll-on/roll-off terminals contain 16 hectares of storage space. The port has liquid cargo storage tanks with capacity for 646.6 thousand cubic meters. The dry cargo storage warehouses can store 368 thousand tons of cargo, open storage areas cover 78 hectares, and refrigerated storage facilities cover 4.6 hectares. The Klaidepa State Seaport offers over 27 thousand meters of quays and 69 thousand meters of port railway.
In 2007, Klaipeda State Seaport handled over 27 million tons of cargo, including 9 million tons of liquid cargo, 9.4 million tons of general cargo, and 9.4 million tons of bulk and dry bulk cargo. It also handled more than 320 thousand TEUs of containerized cargo, a 39% increase over 2006. Comparing cargo-handling for the first quarters of 2007 and 2008, Klaipeda State Seaport experienced a 112% increase in traffic. Greatest increases were in bulk and dry bulk, liquid, and containerized cargo. Klaipeda State Seaport can load over 4 million cubit meters of fuel oil, 2.5 million cubic meters of diesel oil, three thousand tons of liquid fertilizers, 2.5 thousand tons of dry fertilizers, 1500 tons of grain, and 40 containers per hour.
Cruising and Travel
The City of Klaipeda is Lithuania’s third biggest. Stretching along the coast of the Curonian Lagoon, it delights residents and visitors with its charming atmosphere. Its Old Town, with neo-Gothic buildings and quaint frame houses, draws visitors from around the world. Nearby Lithuanian National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, beckons. The resort town of Nida, 50 miles south of Klaipeda, offers a fantastic clean beach. Since 1990, Klaipeda has been an increasingly popular tourist destination.
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