The seaport of Liepaja is located on the shores of the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest port in Latvia. From the port of Liepaja, there is a ferry service between the cities of Liepaja (Latvia) and Travemund (Germany).
Liepaja seaport is a modern and well-developed port. There are 16 cargo and transshipment terminals designed to handle various types of sea cargo. The port's cargo terminals are equipped with modern technical facilities and areas - special open areas and covered warehouses. On the territory of the port there are also granaries, tanks for storage of fuels and lubricants and refrigerators.
The territory of the Liepaja seaport is 60 hectares. The port area has 8 berths with a total length of 1600 meters.
The maximum depth near the berths is 10.5 meters. There is information that dredging works were carried out in 2011 and the depth near the berth was increased to 12.0 meters.
The seaport of Liepaja is equipped with five terminals for transshipment of sea cargo, where both open cargo areas (170,000 m²) and covered warehouses (36,000 m²) are provided.
The total cargo turnover of the seaport is 3 million tons per year.
Berths of the Latvian port of Liepaja allow working with PANAMAX and HANDYMAX vessels with the following characteristics.
Maximum draft of the vessel - 9.7 m (at zero water mark)
The maximum width of a cargo ship must not exceed 35 m
It is possible to handle vessels with a maximum length of 230 m
Phoenix street 4, Liepaja, LV-3401
fax +371 63480252
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The official website of the seaport of Liepaja: www.liepaja-sez.lv
The main difference between Liepaja seaport and other large ports in Latvia is that the port of Liepaja is not endowed with the status of a free port. But, despite this, it is worth noting that a special economic zone extends to the port territory, which occupies most of the city. This economic zone was primarily created to attract various industrial enterprises to its territory, but the transshipment of sea cargo in Liepaja is not the last place. The turnover of sea freight through the Liepaja seaport in comparison with 1997 has doubled to 5 million tons of sea cargo per year.
Special economic zone in Liepaja includes 32 companies. These enterprises are engaged in port activities, wood and metal processing, the production of various types of plastics, the manufacture of car wheels, as well as the production of technical oxygen.
Apparently, things are going well in the Liepaja port, indeed, if the Liepaja FEZ reports on the results of the port's work for two months in a row. Last year, when things were not going well at the port, the FEZ bothered to tell how things were going in its main area of responsibility only in May, November and December - just when life in the port was noticeably reviving.
So, how did the port of Liepaja survived the first two months of this year - January and February, when the cargo turnover, in comparison with the rest of the year, usually falls noticeably?
In January and February, 939,006.36 tons were handled in the port, which is 14.9% more than a year earlier. In percentage terms, by type of cargo, it was bulk cargo - 72%, general cargo 23%, liquid cargo 5%. In just two months, port companies served 219 ships, 5141 passengers and 489 containers.
Specifically for months it looks like this. In February, 498,912.16 tons of cargo were handled in total, which is 13.4% more than in January and 20.8% more than in February 2014. In January 2015, the port handled 440,094.20 tons of cargo, which is 8.9% more than a year earlier and 12.8% more than in December. In February, the port handled 117 ships and 2,148 passengers, in January - 102 ships and 2,723 passengers.
We live by grain. There is no metal
In February, of the types of cargo, the largest volume was traditionally for bulk cargo - 352.7 thousand tons, of which the largest share was for grain and grain products - 264.4 thousand tons or 75%.
In other words, more than half of the port's cargo turnover came from grain products (including soy flour). This means that the port works exactly the same as a hundred years ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, as a port for exporting grain from Russia.
Also in the group of bulk cargo, construction materials had a stable turnover of goods - this is cement from the Brocensky combine, reloaded in Tosmar: in February 47.5 thousand tons, or 13.47%. And in February of this year, sugar cargoes returned to Liepaja port - 28.3 thousand tons, or 8% of bulk cargo. In January, bulk cargo volume amounted to 322.3 thousand tons, of which grain and grain products - 271.7 thousand tons.
Sugar cargoes returned to the port thanks to the Liepaja Bulk Terminal operating at berth 51. The company is constantly looking for new types of cargo to ensure the continuous and efficient operation of the terminal - built, as we remember, on the site of the former separation jetty in the northern part of Free Harbor just a few years ago. The terminal is designed so that it can receive the widest possible range of bulk cargo and work at full load not only during the active grain harvesting season. In February, the company first handled a cargo of raw sugar, and now it expects such cargo in the future.
Within a few years, Liepaja Bulk Terminal has become one of the largest stevedoring companies in the port, taking over the leader's baton from Liepājas osta LM. In 2014, it handled 2 million tons, an increase over the year amounted to 68.6% - in 2013 the annual cargo turnover was 1.2 million tons. In February, the company served 257,132.48 tons (33.7% more than a year ago), in January - 211,043.10 tons (43% more than a year earlier).
In fact, the company "Liepaja Bulk Terminal" handles half of the total cargo turnover in the port of Liepaja.
According to the leaders of the Liepaja FEZ, such volumes of bulk agricultural cargo handling - wheat, barley, flaxseed, soy products - can remain until March or April of this year. The companies Liepaja Bulk Terminal and Dan Store Latvia, which lease a berth on the opposite bank of the Free Harbor from Liepājas osta LM, maintain the pace taken at the end of 2014. Already, cautious forecasts are being expressed that in 2015 the flow of this type of cargo through the port of Liepaja will increase.
200-250 thousand tons of cargo - is it a lot or a little? To understand this, it is enough to recall 2008, when, at the height of the crisis, the leading company of that time in terms of cargo turnover - "Liepājas osta LM" considered it a great success to keep at the level of 100 thousand overloaded tons within a month.
The volume of general cargo in the port of Liepaja in February amounted to 121.2 thousand tons, or 24.3% of the total cargo turnover, in January - 98.6 thousand tons and 22%. This group is dominated by Ro-Ro cargo, which, however, with the depreciation of the Russian ruble, a slight decrease is observed compared to the previous year. In other words, there were fewer cars on the ferries. On the other hand, a stable increase has been observed for several months in the timber segment: 53.7 thousand tons were shipped in February alone, compared to February 2014, this is twice as much - an increase of 105.8%.
Together with the resumption of the work of KVV Liepajas metallurgs, metal cargoes will also return to the general cargo group. At the moment, the volume of cargo is not large, but the company plans that in the middle of summer, both raw materials - scrap metal, and finished products - steel construction fittings will be transshipped through the port of Liepaja.
The share of liquid cargo in our port is scanty. In January - 19.1 thousand tons, or 4% of the total cargo turnover, in February - 25 thousand tons, or 5%. According to representatives of the port management, such a low level is explained by the fact that the transportation of this group of goods is directly related to the political and economic situation in the world. For example, Janis Miller, a member of the board of the DG Terminal company, believes that the turnover of liquid cargo is directly affected by the price of oil on the world market, as well as other economic and political factors. That is why his company diversified its types of business and began the production of bio-diesel fuel from rapeseed oil, which is a friendly product for the future (but not friendly, we note, for direct consumers of agricultural products - people who are deprived of a significant amount of vegetable oil).
One more fact can be mentioned: the stevedoring company "Mols L" in February reached the highest growth rate in the port's cargo turnover - 187% compared to February last year. This is explained by changes in management, more efficient work and the successful attraction of new cargo.
904 rail cars at a time
On February 23, an extraordinary event took place in the port of Liepaja. The tugs brought the vessel “Belo Horizonte” to sea with the largest cargo in the history of our port to date - 54.2 thousand tons. If we translate these numbers into standard 60-ton rail cars, we get 904 cars.
A huge Panamax-class vessel submerged 11.1 meters into the water, taking on board 43.7 thousand tons of wheat and 10.5 thousand tons of barley at the 51st berth, where Liepaja Bulk Terminal operates. It took ten days to load this cargo, and it was sent to Abu Dhabi.
The amount of cargo is directly related to the depth of the port. The deeper the fairways, the greater the available allowable draft for vessels, which allows more cargo to be loaded. This is the result of the work that the Liepaja SEZ Authority has been carrying out for several years, implementing projects to deepen the water area of the Liepaja port and the approach fairways to it up to 12 meters.
Previously, large Panamax-class ships also entered the port of Liepaja and, as a rule, moored at berths 42 and 43, which are used jointly by Liepājas osta LM and Dan Store Latvija. Then, having loaded two-thirds, the ships left the port of Liepaja and reloaded in other European ports. Currently, vessels with a large draft cannot fully use the berths of Liepājas osta LM, since at one time, due to financial problems of the parent company Liepajas Metallurgs, the stevedoring company was unable to reconstruct its berths, adapting them to vessels with a draft of 11 , 5 meters. In the summer of 2014, 95.2% of the shares of Liepājas osta LM were acquired by a Russian private person, Konstantin Goncharov, and one can hope that in 2015 the company will resume stable operations.
In the meantime, ships with the largest cargoes are leaving the berths of the stevedoring company "Liepājas Bulk Terminal". The previous record cargo was removed on November 1, 2012, when also at the “Liepājas Bulk Terminal” berth, 48.55 thousand tons of grain were loaded into the “THOR” vessel, which is why the vessel took a draft of 10.6 meters.
2014 - the second most productive year in history
The port of Liepaja handled 5.3 million tons of cargo in 2014 - this is the second highest cargo turnover in the history of the port of Liepaja. You can even give an exact figure - 5,299,899 tons and 470 kilograms, or 9.5% more than a year earlier. It could have been more if the flow of goods throughout the year had been maintained at the level that was taken in the first months of the year. During the year, 42,305 passengers were served.
Compared to previous years, the results look like this:
| overloaded million tons | served |
|
The largest cargo turnover was in the bulk cargo segment - 3.64 million tons, or 69%. Most of them were formed by grain and grain products - 52%. In second place were construction materials, mainly cement - 10%. Other bulk cargoes include wood shavings, mineral fertilizers and coke. The bulk cargo segment showed an increase of 30% over the year, while general and liquid cargoes showed a decrease. The share of general cargo amounted to 25%, or 1.3 million tons.
In 2014, the Terrabalt company operated steadily, providing ferry services and Ro-Ro cargo. The ferry line to Germany "Liepaja - Travemund", as well as a test line to Sweden "Liepaja - Nynashamn" operated with increasing load. The share of Ro-Ro cargo in the annual turnover was 14%, or 759 thousand tons. The share of liquid cargo was only 7%, 352.6 thousand tons, which was influenced by the drop in oil prices in the world market.
The structure of cargo handled in our port in 2014 looked like this: grain and products from it - 52%, building materials - 10%, Ro-ro cargo - 15%, timber - 10%, oil products 3%, crude oil 2% , mineral fertilizers - 2%, metals and metal products - 1%, coke - 1%, other cargoes - 4%.
Of the port stevedoring companies in 2014, the largest cargo turnover was provided by Liepaja Bulk Terminal - 2,025,560.05 tons, confirming the effectiveness of its activities - the company continued to develop the terminal, storage facilities and expanding the areas of logistics. The increase in its cargo turnover for the year amounted to 68.6%. Another notable increase was shown by the company "Duna" - 14.3% and "Terrabalt" - 12.6%.
In the middle of last year, the cargo turnover in the port dropped significantly, the most critical month was July, when 301 thousand tons were handled throughout the port. The port returned to more or less decent indicators in October and November, and in December the cargo turnover was again halved.
Observing the trends in the port and the market allows us to expect that in 2015 6.3 million tons of cargo will be handled in the port of Liepaja, or 19% more than in 2014. But the record cargo turnover reached in 2012 of 7.4 million tons is planned to be exceeded no earlier than in 2018.
Based on materials from Liepaja SEZ
Illustrations from available sources
Karosta is a part of Liepaja, but at the same time it is a very special world. This is an amazing, paradoxical and unique place, and therefore Karosta is one of the most unusual objects in Latvia, which is very popular among tourists.
One of the most unusual sights of the Naval Port, where tourists are offered a truly unforgettable experience. Here you can put on a gas mask or tie a pioneer tie, as well as bring you for interrogation to the head of the guardhouse.
The Northern Pier is a functionally important hydraulic structure of the Liepaja port.
Mole fits perfectly:
Fragments of the Northern Fort and Liepaja Free Port can also be seen in the sea.
In 1905, a large Russian flotilla set out from Liepaja to the Pacific Ocean to take part in the Russo-Japanese War. In this war, the Russian fleet suffered significant losses, and the Russian emperor in 1908 ordered the destruction of the fortress. They tried to blow it up, but it was such a monumental and reliable structure that this plan failed.
Remains of Liepāja defensive structures have survived to this day.
Liepaja, Latvia: the most detailed information about the city of Liepaja, main attractions with photos and descriptions, location on the map.
Liepaja is a city in southwestern Latvia on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the third largest city in the country and one of the most important ports in Latvia. In addition, Liepaja is known as a resort center, even though the conditions for recreation here are slightly behind modern European standards. In Latvia, the city is often called the "place where the wind is born". And, indeed, the wind from the sea blows here almost constantly.
Liepaja is the westernmost city in Latvia, located between the Baltic Sea and Lake Liepaja. The sea coast is mainly a strip of sandy beaches. The climate is temperate maritime. The weather here is largely determined by the proximity of the Baltic Sea. In summer it is warm, but not hot, in winter there are slight frosts with frequent thaws. About 700 mm of precipitation falls annually.
The first mentions of a fishing village at this place date back to 1253. The village was called Liva and was part of the Livonian Order. At the beginning of the 15th century, it was plundered by the Lithuanians. In the 15th century, the Amsterdam-Moscow trade route passes through the settlement. In the second half of the 16th century, Liwa was pledged to the Hohenzollerns and became part of Prussia.
During the Livonian War, the settlement was plundered by Swedish troops. At the beginning of the 17th century Liepaja returned to Courland (the former lands of the Livonian Order). In 1625 Liepaja received city privileges. The new city began to grow and develop rapidly, becoming one of the most important ports in Courland and trade centers in the region. After the end of the Northern War, Liepaja became part of Poland.
In 1795, the city became part of the Russian Empire. At this time, it is called Libava. During this historical period Liepaja developed as a major port, a fortress and a railway were built here. Also, the city is turning into a large resort, where the Russian nobility and members of the imperial family rest.
In 1919 Liepaja became the capital of Latvia for six months. In 1941, the city was captured by German troops.
Liepaja is located 220 km from Riga. If you travel by car, then two highways lead here: A9 - from the capital of Latvia, A11 - from the Lithuanian Klaipeda. You can get by bus from Riga (about 4 hours), Kuldiga, Ventspils, Klaipeda and some other cities. Railway communication - Riga and Jelgava. The nearest international major airport is located in the capital of Latvia. A ferry service connects the city with Travemünde, which is located in Germany near Lübeck.
The swimming season lasts only one and a half months - from late July (early August) to September, because The Baltic Sea warms up quite late. This must be taken into account when planning a vacation. The beaches are sandy. We recommend Vecliepaja and Dienvidrietumi beaches with fine white sand, located in the central and southwestern part of the city. Although there are several beaches in the northern part of Liepaja.
The sights of Liepaja are mainly concentrated in the historical center. Although there is no place that can be called the old city. Old wooden houses and Art Nouveau buildings are scattered throughout the city center and its surroundings.
St. Nicholas Cathedral in Liepaja St. Nicholas Cathedral is an Orthodox cathedral, one of the main attractions of the city. Built in accordance with the traditions of Orthodox architecture of the 17th century. Emperor Nicholas II participated in the laying of the first stone and the first divine service. The construction of the cathedral, nicknamed the sea cathedral, lasted from 1901 to 1903.
Church of st. Anna is the oldest religious building in Liepaja, built at the beginning of the 16th century. It is a Gothic brick building with a high tower, a beautiful Baroque masterpiece altar and one of the largest organ in Latvia.
Church of st. Joseph is a cathedral built in the 19th century in the neo-Gothic style.
Video - Liepaja city
At the quay wall of the port. Photo by O. Pukhlyak
Libava as a sea harbor, due to its natural natural conditions, existed for a long time and in Latin written sources it was called Portus Liva (Livsky port). In the historical chronicles of the second half of the 13th century about the section of Courses (Kurzeme), Liwa was first mentioned as an episcopal harbor.
The main advantage of this port is its non-freezing water area. Only sometimes, during strong and prolonged frosts, a crust of ice appears here, and then for a short time. Previously, the Livas River naturally connected Lake Liepaja with the sea. Gradually, the forest that covered the banks of the river was cut down, the soil was bare, and nomadic sands moved towards the sea. In a few years, the harbor became so shallow that it became inaccessible to ships. They had to move the port to the south, digging an artificial channel for the river. In 1697-1703, at the behest of Duke Jacob, a canal was built on the site of a buried river and a pier for ships was built. Even then, its shores were covered with berths and warehouses, the canal became a merchant port. In 1700, it was visited by about 100 ships. The small fishing village of Liwa began to confidently turn into a port city. Here foreign traders appear, a trade guild is created and the first school opens. From Libava, they export grain, timber, leather, agricultural products, and import salt, herring, building materials, metal products and other goods. After several decades, the entrance to the port was again blocked by bottom sediments. Capital construction work in the Libau port began under the Duke of Courland Biron in 1737. The fairway was deepened and two parallel jetties were built to protect the water area from shallowing .. It is believed that from that time the first trade lines from the Baltic to Europe began to operate. However, many Baltic ports were active much earlier, since the days of the Hanseatic Trade Union, which gave them certain advantages.
In 1795, after the annexation of Courland to the Russian Empire, the tsarist government took care of the state of the commercial port of Libava (as the city began to be called from now on). However, it was only possible to expand work on the reconstruction of its structures on a large scale only during the reign of Nicholas I, when a stone pilot tower was built and another lengthening of the breakwaters was made. In 1831, the port received the rights of a first-class harbor, goods came here not only from the surrounding provinces, but also from Oryol, Kaluga, Smolensk, Poltava and Chernigov, and were exported to England, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, France and other European countries ... In 1839, the local merchants even petitioned, albeit unsuccessfully, for the construction of a railway that would connect the city with the central regions of Russia. In 1800-1850, the value of goods exported from Libau port, under favorable weather conditions, reached 5-6 million rubles. The population of the city also grew.
The Crimean War (1853-1856) dealt a strong blow to local trade. The English fleet then not only blocked the port, but also robbed merchants, taking the ships along with the goods. A new stage in the development of the port and city began with the opening of railway lines: in 1871 with Vilna, in 1873 with Riga. In 1876, the Libava - Romny highway began to operate, which opened a new exit to foreign markets for bread from the northern part of Ukraine and the black earth provinces. The port's trade turnover has more than quadrupled. Libava got the opportunity to compete with Konigsberg, through which a significant part of Russian exports went since the Crimean War. In 1877, the port expansion plan was considered by a special meeting, chaired by the Minister of Railways, Adjutant General K.N. Posiet, and on February 28, 1878, a corresponding contract was signed with the Libavo-Romenskaya Railway Society, which took over the work. By 1881, the city's population reached 27,500 people. During this period, the Libavsky port was already able to compete with the Riga port. According to statistical annual reports, grain imported to Riga from the inner regions of Russia in 1879 amounted to 3.5 million quarters, and by 1880 - only 1.5 million, since 2 million went to the Libau and Königsberg ports. True, the range of goods exported to Germany, England, Holland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, exported from Riga, was still much wider than that of the Libavans, who handled mainly flax, linseed and hemp seeds, linen and hemp yarns, grain and various forest material.
In 1881 the port handled 959 ships, and in 1896 - 1094. Many local merchants mastered new professions for themselves, becoming the founders of forwarding offices. By this time, its own shipyard was already operating here, where both light and large-tonnage ships were built.
By the beginning of the 20th century, Libau port was already one of the five largest ports in the Russian Empire, along with the Petersburg, Odessa, Revel and Riga ports. This was preceded by extensive work on the further construction and modernization of the port facilities. In particular, another canal was dug, along the banks of which a military port was located, a repair base with dry and floating docks, a repair shop and a drawbridge were built. Barns were erected right on the embankments of the old harbor. This contributed to the speeding up of cargo handling on ships, and accordingly, their freight became cheaper. The harbor service was also strengthened by purchasing an icebreaker and a steamship to manage port operations. In addition, breakwaters and breakwaters were built, which are still in use. The grandeur of their construction is worth illustrating with numbers: 12,000 units of concrete mass, 114,000 cubic meters of stone, 40,000 cubic meters of sand, 18,000 cubic meters of gravel, 80,000 tons of cement were used.
Perhaps it is interesting to look at the port area of the city at the beginning of the last century. On the southern side of the canal, near the railway bridge, the Gas Plant and the Southern Expedition of Goods are located. Barns and speakers stretch to the city bridge, and, very close to it, residential quarters. The berths are lively: warehouses, customs and "Customs yard" are working. Immediately behind them is the Ezinger Dye Factory and Company, and the Bolshoi Mayak near the Southern Pier. On the northern side of the canal there is a freight station, at the city bridge there is a “Brewery”. Further - a residential area, an Orthodox cemetery, barns of the Libavo-Romenskaya railway. To the north of them are the Linoleum plant, the Cork plant, and the Tin Plant. A little further - the warehouse of the city, next door - "Mechanical workshops". Closer to the roadstead embankment "Oil warehouses Nobel and K." and Oil Mill Killer & K. ...
The progressive development of this port in the Baltic continued until the outbreak of the First World War. In 1913, 1,738 ships visited here, and 1,548,119 tons of cargo were handled. Before the start and during the hostilities, a lot of ships carrying emigrants left here. In search of a better life from Libau, up to 40,000 people went to the West every year.
After the end of the war and during the period of Latvia's independence, Russian transit through Liepaja sharply decreased. Until 1929, the average annual cargo turnover was 240,000 tons per year. The activation of the work was facilitated by the assignment of the free status to the port in 1931. After the Second World War, the port economy was almost not damaged and it began to operate already in 1946. In 1967, Liepaja commercial port was liquidated, and the city, in connection with the location of the base of the USSR Navy, acquired the status of “closed”. The port was served by the Baltic Fleet Auxiliary Ships Detachment. In 1991, a civil administration was established here - the Liepaja Port Authority, and a year later the first foreign merchant ship under the Polish flag entered the water area.
In order to promote the development of trade, industry and shipping, in 1997, by the decision of the government, the Liepaja Free Economic Zone was opened in the port. Now metal products, bulk cargo, wood, mineral fertilizers are transshipped here. Work is underway to deepen the water area in order to make the port accessible to vessels with deep draft and significantly increase the cargo turnover.
A. Rakityansky
See: Baltic Russians: History in Cultural Monuments (1710-2010). - Riga, 2010.
Sources of information:
1. Gnusin D.D. Libau port. Materials for the description of Russian commercial ports. S.P. 1898 g.
2. Picturesque Russia, v.2, part 1. North-Western outskirts of Russia. S-P. and M. 1882
3. Freiberg G. First pennants (Harbor of the Amber Sea) Liepaja, 1963, p. 27.
4. Report on the Libau trading port for 1908. Libava, 1909, pp. 3-5.
5. "Nedēļa" No. 12. 1925. (in Latin). To the 300th anniversary of Liepaja.
6. Travel guide to Latvia. Riga. 2001.
7.S. Korklysh. Liepaja. Riga, 1966.
