Ocean Network Express has launched the weekly Iberia Baltic Express service at the Port of Riga, giving the Latvian port its first direct container link with Portuguese ports, according to the Freeport of Riga Authority.
The service calls Riga once a week on a rotation covering Leixões, Lisbon, Southampton, Rotterdam, Gdańsk, Riga, Klaipėda, Gdynia, Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and Leixões.
The new loop connects Portugal, the UK, the Netherlands, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany, widening direct container access for Latvian exporters and importers into European and global markets.
ONE started operations at Riga in January 2025 with the Baltic Bridge Express service, which linked Baltic and Finnish ports with Rotterdam. The IBX service extends that platform to a wider group of European ports.
Cargo from Portuguese ports is expected to reach Riga in about one week. Shipments from Rotterdam to Riga may take four days.
Riga is Latvia’s only port with regular container shipping lines and specialised container terminals. It is now served by nine international container line vessels across 11 routes, a record for the port. The port handled 495,700 TEU in 2025, representing 98% of all container cargo handled at Latvian ports. Containers are Riga’s second-largest cargo segment and account for about 30% of its total cargo portfolio.
Ocean Network Express is a container shipping company formed from the container businesses of Japanese shipping groups Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The company operates more than 240 vessels with total carrying capacity of 1.9m TEU and offers more than 165 services across 120 countries.