This month, our featured port is Riga, which, amongst other things, discusses the importance of the cruise industry to the port, and the latest developments in the port’s major relocation project, the Krievu Sala project.
ESPO: Can you briefly tell us about the Freeport of Riga? What are its main characteristics and challenges?
Freeport of Riga Authority: The Freeport of Riga is located in the southern part of the Gulf of Riga on the Baltic Sea at the estuary of the river Daugava, and is one of the main logistic hubs in the Eastern Baltic Sea region. The port is strategically well connected to the European TEN-T motorway and railway network, as well as the European Motorways of the Sea that enables fast and efficient transportation of cargo from the EU to the CIS (Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan), other Asian countries and vice versa.
The Eastern European railway network conforms to the Russian gauge and thus Riga as a port of the East-Western transport corridor is successfully connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR) having an important role in trans-continental freight flows, especially containerised cargo. At the same time easy access to the South-North corridor connects the Port of Riga to the Middle East.
Distances by sea from the biggest ports of the Central Europe – Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg – to the ports of the eastern part of the Baltic Sea coastline are the shortest, providing an advantage with regard to transportation costs and transit time.
The Freeport of Riga is a multifunctional port that handles all types of cargo except for crude oil. In 2014 cargo turnover at the port reached 41.1 million tons and it has grown by 8.4 % per year on average during the past decade.
Approximately 80% of cargo handled at the Freeport of Riga each year is transit traffic
By cargo throughput the Freeport of Riga is the biggest Latvian port and the biggest port in the Baltic States handling approximately 27% of the region’s total cargo turnover in 2014.
Currently 35 stevedoring companies and 26 shipping agencies are operating at the Freeport of Riga. More than 74 companies provide various services based on agreements with the Freeport of Riga Authority.
According to the Freeport of Riga Law, companies that use land and invest within the territory of the port fulfilling certain requirements can conclude an agreement with the Freeport of Riga Authority and receive Licensed Company status. Pursuant to the Law On Tax Application in Free Ports and Special Economic Zones, Licensed Companies are entitled to the direct and indirect tax rebates.
The Freeport of Riga Authority (FRA) is a semi-state and municipal institution in charge of the overall Freeport of Riga management.
The main functions of the FRA, in accordance with the Law on Ports are: maintenance of hydro technical structures and navigation channel, ensuring of navigation safety, issuing the Freeport licenses, levying of port dues and charges, etc.
ESPO: The Freeport of Riga is currently undergoing a major relocation project, the Krievu Sala project, to develop a new port infrastructure outside the city centre. What are the latest developments? What do you expect from this development? Can you explain how the project has been/will be financed, have you benefitted from the EU grants?
FRA: The total Project cost is €162,809,343, 95, and the eligible cost is €133,647,002, 26 (Cohesion Funding €77,188,429, 49 EUR and the Freeport of Riga co-funding is €56,159,278, 92 EUR).
The project territory is 56ha, with a planned capacity 17-22 million tons per year, and a plan to develop 4 berths with total berth length of 1180m.
The project works include land reclamation, dredging, building of access roads and access railway tracks, water and sewage network and other infrastructure necessary for the stevedores to develop their own superstructure.
The project implementation date is August 31, 2015; the stevedores have to relocate the dry bulk handling operations to Krievu Sala within 24 months after the completion of the construction works.
The project construction Contract amount is €126, 218, 915, 65; by the end of December 2014 the construction works were completed and accepted by the Chief Engineer. €79,869,387 were paid for the completed work, which is about 63% of the total project amount.
ESPO: How important is the cruise business for your port?
FRA: New cruise lines, new cruise ships and bigger cruise ships are calling to the Port of Riga every year. The ships are moored in the very centre of the city, and after a short walk one can reach the historic centre of the city with its medieval churches, Riga Castle, beautiful parks and Art Nouveau buildings. The passengers of cruise ships, representing more than 100 nationalities, visit the Port of Riga and the city every year. Most of them come from Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom and Italy.
The growth in the passenger segment has been possible due to co-operation, investment and marketing activities provided by the Freeport of Riga Authority and other parties involved with the cruise industry. The Freeport of Riga Authority is responsible for the attraction of cruise ships and their safe arrival at the Port. Other parties, including private port terminals providing the reception of the ships and its passengers, tourism companies offering excursions, transport companies providing transport services, shipping agents, ship supply companies, etc, to get involved also.
Membership in the international organisation Cruise Europe , as well as in the Cruise and Ferry Port Network, organised by ESPO, participation in major industry conferences and exhibitions and individual work with cruise lines have also helped to considerably increase in the number of cruise passengers visiting Riga.
In order to make The Port of Riga even more attractive for cruise lines the Freeport of Riga Authority has introduced discounts to cruise ships based on the number of calls they make during one calendar season, whereas the Riga Passenger terminal has announced rebates for those cruise ships, which call the Port of Riga out of the defined cruise season.
ESPO: What environmental policies have been developed by the port? How can these link-up with ESPO initiatives, such as the Green Guide and the EcoPorts Network?
FRA: Environmental policy is part and parcel of the Freeport of Riga Development Programme for the period of 2009 – 2018. There are several strategic goals set to foster port development in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way within the fields of navigation, safety and environmental protection. The Freeport of Riga Authority recognises sustainability as part of the port daily operation as well as of the development projects and does its best to provide the necessary support to meet the high standards of sound environmental policy. Due to its high performance standards the FRA was granted ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certifications.
The Freeport of Riga Authority truly foresees the successful possibility of achieving the guidelines on sustainability provided by ESPO Environmental Code of Practice (2004) and ESPO Code of Practice on the Birds and Habitats Directives (2006), inspiring implementation of different projects. We hope that the ESPO Green Guide will encourage us to deliver port development projects in environmentally friendly way. The Freeport of Riga Port is ready to follow the recommendations of the ESPO Green Guide.
ESPO: ESPO is a partner of PORTOPIA, an FP7 project that aims to measure port performance. What is Riga’s approach for measuring the port’s performance?
FRA: To evaluate the port’s performance we use a set of criteria, most of which are included in the list of indicators proposed by the PORTOPIA project – cargo throughput capacity and utilization rate, cargo turnover and growth rate, port’s throughput share in the region’s market, number of passengers, number and size of vessels, capacity of terminal infrastructure, modal split between rail and road, amount of investments in port’s infrastructure, number of employees and jobs created, taxes paid to the state and municipality budgets etc.
There are more than 90 different companies working within the territory of the port. To get the most accurate information the Port Authority collects data through annual questionnaire that started back in 2003 and involves all land lessees. In 2011 we introduced a web based questionnaire and that provides not only a more user friendly approach, but one which helps to increase the participation rate and thus we have more precise data to work with.
ESPO: Finally, Latvia has just taken-over the six-month presidency of the European Council. What can be done at the EU level to ensure the success of your port and of ports in general in Europe?
FRA: The presidency will do everything possible to secure the right international environment for maritime transport in particular at the IMO level, enhancing Europe’s role and influence in the maritime industry internationally. The presidency intends to promote all initiatives aiming to boost growth and to enhance competitiveness of the European shipping sector and to foster further development of unified standards for maritime safety and security.
Source: ESPO
