Port of Ventspils five-month traffic volume rises 20 percent
Cargo throughput at Free Port of Ventspils in January-May totaled 14.8 million tons, a 20-percent growth compared with the five-month period in 2011, the Port Authority said.
Oil products shipments through the port’s terminals increased by 26% to 8 million tons, coal volume soared 68% from a year before, to 4 million tons, handling of Ro-Ro cargo rose 8% to 774,000 tons.
In May 2012, the port’s freight turnover grew by 14% to nearly 3 million tons.
The bulk of cargo was handled by Baltic Coal Terminal, about 43% of total five-month volume, Ventbunkers - 32%, Ventspils Commercial Port – about 31%, Nafta Terminal - some 24%.
Latvia’s Free port of Ventspils is a deepwater ice-free port. The country’s premier port ranks among leading ports on the Baltic Sea and top 20 European ports. The port can accommodate Aframax size tankers of 130.000 DWT and Panamax vessels of 75.000 DWT. The port encompasses 2623,9 hectares with terminals for handling oil products, crude oil, liquid chemicals, mineral fertilizer, metals, forest products, coal, grain, juice concentrates, containers and Ro-Ro cargoes. In 2011, cargo traffic at the port rose 15% year-on-year to 28.5 mln tons