Ventspils Free Port

In 1998, the deepening of the port's water area to 17.5 m in the area of ​​liquid cargo terminals was completed, which allows serving Aframax- type vessels with a deadweight of up to 150,000 tons. The bulk and general cargo terminals have a maximum depth of 15.5 m, which allows serving Panamax- type vessels with a deadweight of up to 75,000 tons.

The total area of ​​the port is 2623.9 ha. There are various enterprises of port infrastructure, trade and industry. Port terminals process petroleum products, crude oil , liquid chemicals, coal, metal, minerals, timber, grain, juice concentrates, containers and other cargo. Since 2000, the port has been actively involved in the development of container and ferry services. Regular container shipping from Ventspils to the UK is provided by the Geest North Sea Line . Thanks to port has become one of the ferry service centers between Sweden , Germany and Russia .

Port

Ventspils port was first mentioned in historical documents in 1263, when the Teutons built a fortress at the mouth of the Venta River and built a primitive berth for merchant ships ^[2] . Ventspils was an important member of the Hanseatic Trade Union . Ventspils port experienced its first heyday in the 17th century, when more than 135 ships were built in shipyards and sold in Europe under the leadership of the Duke Jakob .

He experienced the next heyday at the end of the 19th century as part of the Russian Empire , when the first of the Baltic ports was connected by rail with Moscow and Rybinsk .

During the USSR, Ventspils was connected by pipelines to oil-producing regions on the territory of the RSFSR and acted as a petroleum product transshipment center. In addition, one of the largest transshipment terminals of liquid chemicals, ammonia and potassium salts was built in the Ventspils port, ferry lines were established. In the 1960s, Ventspils became an important transit center ^[2] .

Ferry Service

Ventspils has 2 regular ferry lines ^[4] :

• Ventspils - Nynashamn (6 times a week, operator Stena Line );
• Ventspils - Travemunde (2 times a week, operator Stena Line ).

Piping System

Ventspils, fields and transport routes of Russian oil are connected by two pipelines:

• oil pipeline ( Polotsk - Ventspils) with a capacity of 16 million tons / year;
• oil product pipeline (Polotsk - Ventspils) with a capacity of 6 million tons / year.

The pipelines are serviced by the Latvian-Russian joint venture LatRosTrans.

Road Network

Ventspils is connected by the A10 highway with the capital of Riga, located 189 km. The two-lane highway of the European network E22 (Great Britain - Netherlands - Germany - Sweden ( Norrkoping ) - Ventspils - Moscow ) provides cargo delivery to Russia and the CIS countries .

Railway

The west-east railway corridor leading to Ventspils was the busiest in Europe until the mid-2000s. About 20 million tons of various cargoes were transported along this route annually. LDz has implemented a project to increase its throughput to 34 million tons.

Liquid Goods

The liquid cargo area has 9 berths with a depth of 11.5 to 17.5 m. At these berths it is possible to accept Aframax-type vessels with a deadweight of up to 150,000 tons.

Ventspils Nafta Terminals LLC manages one of the largest terminals in the Baltic Sea region for the transshipment of crude oil and petroleum products. The capacity of the terminal is 29 million tons per year, the total volume of the tank farm is 1,195,000 m ³ .

JSC Ventbunkers tranships light and dark oil products, and also offers forwarding services, collection and treatment of waste / ballast water. The volume of the tank farm reaches 275,000 m ³ , the throughput is 10 million tons per year.

JSC Ventamonyax manages the largest terminal in the Baltic Sea, which stores and transports liquid ammonia and other liquid chemical products. The total capacity for one-time storage of goods is 54,000 tons. The maximum amount of ammonia transshipment reached 1,350,000 tons per year.

Ventall Terminals LLC transports petroleum products. The total volume of one-time accumulation reaches from 67,000 tons to 80,000 tons, depending on the stored product. The total transshipment capacity of the complex is 1,500,000 tons per year.

Bulk cargo

Ventspils Trade Port JSC specializes in transshipment of various general and bulk cargoes. The following cargoes are served at the terminal's berths: metals, coal, ferroalloys, grain, raw sugar, etc. The throughput capacity of the terminal is 5.5 million tons per year, the area of ​​open warehouses is 160,000 m ² , and covered warehouses are 75,000 m ² .

JSC Kalia Parks operates the largest mineral fertilizer transshipment terminal in Europe. Warehouse capacities reach 120,000 tons, and the terminal's throughput capacity is 7.5 million tons per year.

Noord Natie Ventspils Terminals LLC operates a modern multi-purpose container / Ro-Pax terminal. The terminal capacity reaches 150,000 container units per year, the area of ​​warehouses is 5,200 m ² indoor and 120,000 m ² open.

Ventplatz LLC handles and stores timber. The terminal capacity is 1 million tons per year.

Ventspils Grain Terminal LLC is engaged in transshipment and storage of grain cargo. The terminal is capable of storing 130,000 tons of grain at the same time. At the terminal berth, it is possible to load Panamax-type vessels (carrying capacity 75,000 DWT) at a speed of 1,500 tons per hour. The total throughput capacity of the terminal is 2.5 million tons per year.

In the Global Free Zones of the Future 2010/11 study published in the British Financial Times , Ventspils Free Port ranks fifth among the most promising free zones, and also as the best port free 2010/11 zone. The study showed that Ventspils port has created some of the best conditions in the world for the development of enterprises.

According to the results of the study “Global Free Zones of the Future 2012/13” published in the Financial Times , Ventspils Free Port ranked seventh among the most promising special economic zones in the world, and also ranked second among ports. Among the special economic zones of Europe, this was the highest mark.

In the mid-2000s, Russia reoriented freight flow to use its national Baltic ports, which in fact cast doubt on the prospects of the Ventspils port ^{[5] [6]} .