Port of Liepaja Latvia. Liepaja Military Port (Karosta)

Apparently, things are going really well in the port of Liepaja, if the Liepaja SEZ has been reporting 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 SEZ only bothered to tell how things were going in its main area of ​​responsibility in May, November and December - precisely when life in the port was noticeably livelier.

So, how did the Liepaja port survive the first two months of this year - January and February, when cargo turnover, compared to other months of the year, usually drops noticeably?

In January and February, 939,006.36 tons were transshipped at the port, which is 14.9% more than a year earlier. In percentage terms by type of cargo, this amounted to bulk cargo - 72%, general cargo 23%, liquid cargo 5%. In just two months, port companies served 219 ships, 5,141 passengers and 489 containers.

Specifically by month it looks like this. In February, a total of 498,912.16 tons of cargo were handled, 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 served 117 ships and 2,148 passengers, in January - 102 ships and 2,723 passengers.

We live on grain. No metal

In February, among the types of cargo, the largest volume was traditionally that of bulk cargo - 352.7 thousand tons, of which the largest share was 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 soybean flour). This means that the port operates exactly as it did a hundred years ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, as a port for the export of grain from Russia.

Also in the group of bulk cargoes, construction materials had a stable cargo turnover - cement from the Broceni plant, transshipped in Tosmar: in February 47.5 thousand tons, or 13.47%. And in February of this year, sugar cargo returned to the Liepaja port - 28.3 thousand tons, or 8% of bulk cargo. In January, the volume of bulk cargo amounted to 322.3 thousand tons, of which grain and grain products amounted to 271.7 thousand tons.

Sugar cargoes returned to the port thanks to the Liepaja Bulk Terminal company operating at berth 51. The company is constantly looking for new types of cargo to ensure continuous and efficient operation of the terminal - built, as we remember, on the site of the former dividing pier in the northern part of the Free Harbor just a few years ago. The terminal is designed so that it can accept the widest possible range of bulk cargo and operate at full capacity not only during the active grain harvest season. In February, the company handled a cargo of raw sugar for the first time, and now expects such cargo in the future.

Over the course of several years, the Liepaja Bulk Terminal company has become one of the largest stevedoring companies in the port, taking over the leadership baton from Liepājas osta LM. In 2014, it handled 2 million tons, the increase for the year was 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 Liepaja Bulk Terminal company services half of the total cargo turnover of the Liepaja port.

According to the leaders of the Liepaja SEZ, such volumes of transshipment of bulk agricultural cargo - wheat, barley, flaxseed, soy products - can remain until March or April of this year. The companies “Liepaja Bulk Terminal” and “Dan Store Latvia”, which rent a berth on the opposite bank of the Free Harbor from “Liepājas osta LM”, maintain the pace they set at the end of 2014. There are already cautious forecasts that in 2015 the flow of this type of cargo through the Liepaja port will increase.

200 - 250 thousand tons of cargo - is it a lot or a little? To understand this, it is enough to remember 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 stay at the level of 100 thousand transshipped 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, has seen a slight decrease compared to last year with the depreciation of the Russian ruble. In other words, there are fewer cars on ferries. But a stable increase has been observed in the wood segment for several months: 53.7 thousand tons were shipped in February alone, compared to February 2014, this is twice as much - an increase of 105.8%.

Along with the resumption of work at KVV Liepājas Metalurgs, metal cargoes are also returning to the general cargo group. At the moment, cargo volumes are small, but the company plans that already in mid-summer, both raw materials - scrap metal and finished products - steel construction fittings will be transshipped through the Liepaja port.

The share of liquid cargo in our port is miniscule. In January - 19.1 thousand tons, or 4% of 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. Thus, Janis Miller, member of the board of directors 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 business activities and began producing bio-diesel from rapeseed oil, which is a friendly product for the future (but not friendly, we note, for the 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 achieved the largest increase in cargo turnover at the port - 187% compared to February last year. This is explained by changes in management, more efficient work and the successful attraction of new cargo.

904 railway cars at a time

On February 23, an extraordinary event occurred in the port of Liepaja. Tugs put out to sea the vessel “Belo Horizonte” with the largest cargo in the history of our port to date - 54.2 thousand tons. If we translate these figures into standard 60-ton railcars, we get 904 cars.

A huge Panamax class vessel sank 11.1 meters into the water, taking on board 43.7 thousand tons of wheat and 10.5 thousand tons of barley at berth 51, where the Liepaja Bulk Terminal company operates. It took ten days to load this cargo and it was sent to Abu Dhabi.

The size of cargo is directly related to the depth of the port. The deeper the fairways, the greater the available draft for ships, allowing them to load more cargo. This is the result of the work that the Liepaja SEZ Administration has been carrying out for several years, implementing projects to deepen the water area of ​​the Liepaja port and its approach fairways to 12 meters.

Before big ships Panamax class also called at the Port of Liepaja and, as a rule, moored at berths 42 and 43, which are shared by Liepājas osta LM and Dan Store Latvija. Then, two-thirds loaded, the ships left the port of Liepaja and loaded in other European ports. Currently, ships with deep draft cannot fully use the berths of “Liepājas osta LM”, since at one time, due to financial problems of the parent company “Liepājas metalurgs”, the stevedoring company was unable to reconstruct its berths, adapting them for ships 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 individual, Konstantin Goncharov, and one can hope that in 2015 the company will resume stable operations.

In the meantime, ships with the largest cargoes depart from the berths of the stevedoring company “Liepājas Bulk Terminal”. The previous record cargo was exported on November 1, 2012, when 48.55 thousand tons of grain were loaded into the ship THOR at the Liepājas Bulk Terminal, which caused the ship to take on a draft of 10.6 meters.

2014 is 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 even more if the flow of cargo had been maintained throughout the year at the same level as in the first months of the year. During the year, 42,305 passengers were served.

Compared to previous years, the results look like this:

The largest cargo turnover was in the bulk cargo segment - 3.64 million tons, or 69%. Most of them were grain and grain products - 52%. In second place were building materials, mainly cement - 10%. Other bulk cargoes include wood chips, mineral fertilizers and coke. The bulk cargo segment showed an increase of 30% over the year, while general and liquid cargo showed a decrease. The share of general cargo was 25%, or 1.3 million tons.

In 2014, the Terrabalt company, which provides ferry service and Ro-Ro cargo, operated stably. The ferry line to Germany "Liepaja - Travemünd" was operating with increasing load, as well as the line to Sweden "Liepayas - Nynashamn" operating in test mode. 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 affected by the fall in oil prices on the world market.

The structure of cargo processed in our port in 2014 looked like this: grain and grain products - 52%, construction materials - 10%, Ro-ro cargo - 15%, timber - 10%, petroleum products 3%, crude oil 2% , mineral fertilizers - 2%, metals and metal products - 1%, coke - 1%, other cargo 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, warehousing and expanding logistics areas. The increase in its cargo turnover over the year amounted to 68.6%. Another noticeable increase was shown by Duna - 14.3% and Terrabalt - 12.6%.

In the middle of last year, cargo turnover at the port fell significantly; the most critical month was July, when 301 thousand tons were transshipped throughout the port. The port returned to more or less decent figures in October and November, and in December cargo turnover again halved.

Observations of trends in the port and market allow us to expect that in 2015, 6.3 million tons of cargo will be transshipped at the Liepaja port, or 19% more than in 2014. But the record cargo turnover of 7.4 million tons achieved in 2012 is planned to be exceeded no earlier than in 2018.

Based on materials from the Liepaja SEZ

Illustrations from available sources

Karosta is part of Liepaja, but at the same time it is a completely special world. This is amazing, paradoxical and unique place, and therefore Karosta is one of the most unusual objects in Latvia, which is very popular among tourists.

Feel the enchanting severity of Karosta!

• Walk across the Oskar Kalpak drawbridge over the Military Port canal;
• Wander the cobbled streets of Karosta, admire the alleys and architecture from the times of Tsarist Russia;
• Feel the powerful breath of the sea as you walk along Northern pier on a windy day;
• See the impressive fortifications - and forts on the seashore;
• Combine a visit with active recreation, cycling along the 12-kilometer route "The Enchanting Roughness of Karosta"!

Karosta Prison

One of the most unusual attractions of the Military Port, where tourists are offered a truly unforgettable experience. Here you can be put on a gas mask or tied with a pioneer tie, and also taken for questioning to the head of the guardhouse.

Tourists can take part in various reality shows:

• spend an “Extreme Night” as a prisoner;
• experience the thrill in the Northern Forts - arrest, interrogation in prison;
• Those who love the most thrilling sensations can join the "24-hour Army".

Northern pier

The Northern Pier is a functionally important hydraulic structure of the Liepaja port.

Mol fits perfectly:

• for walking;
• for watching sunsets and storms;
• for fishing.

You can also see fragments of the Northern Fort and the Liepaja Free Port in the sea.

History of Karosta

In 1905 from Liepaja to Pacific Ocean a large Russian flotilla set off to take part in 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.

The remains of Liepaja fortifications have survived to this day.

Liepaja military town, also known as Karosta (military port - lat.), also known as the former port of Alexander III, is, in my opinion, the most impressive and famous part of the city, formed at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries as a large naval port and outpost Russian Empire in the Baltic. Liepaja (then the city was called Libau) had an ice-free commercial port and a dubious decision was made to establish a base for the Baltic Navy here. Doubtful, because it (the base) could not provide a reliable and safe cover due to its extreme proximity to the Prussian border, which was 60 kilometers from Libau. And it was not difficult for the fleet of a potential enemy to block access to the sea for the Russian squadron. By the way, several decades before the construction of the military port, Libau was given preference over Vindava (Ventspils) in choosing the candidate for the main commercial port of Russia in the southern Baltic, since it froze less and was closer to European markets.

At the end of the 19th century, Libau again came to the fore - they decided to build a military port here, and the special Commission “On the connection and joint actions of land and sea forces in the defense of the state” rejected such options as Vindava, Moonsund and Catherine Harbor, which is already in the north of the Kola Peninsula . As a result, the fate of history played a cruel joke on Liepaja after the collapse of the USSR - I won’t say anything about Moonsund and Catherine Harbor, but Ventspils, which is 100 km north of Liepaja, turned into a powerful Trading port with modern berths and piers, and experienced a truly rapid flourishing, which, with the skillful management of the legacy left behind, has had a positive impact on the well-being of the city even today - and Liepaja, having received the status of a closed city as a base of the USSR Navy, was left with nothing in 1991 . One confirmation of this is the severe desolation of the military town (aka Karosta) in the last two decades.

One way or another, today it is an impressive and unique architectural monument, an area with its own characteristics and a unique aura, which had a hard time surviving the troubled 90s, and now, as Latvian information sources say, it is gradually turning into a whole tourist site. However, it is still far from great fame, since, with all the desire, the phenomenon of two and a half Baltic states and one and a half Germans coming to visit the most famous object of the town, the Liepaja garrison prison, I cannot call massive. Attracting tourists is a difficult and creative task, it takes more than one decade. So you can consider that with this post I am promoting Liepaja on the Internet, although from a local tourist center I didn't get a penny. Joke!

In fact, the walk turned out to be not entirely complete, because I planned to come here again the next day, but it didn’t work out, so I’ll catch up next time, which will hopefully be in the summer.

I'll tell you this - until recently, about five years ago, the military town was a terrible hole, but in Lately local authorities seem to have taken up the task of gentrifying the area. They are repairing roads, laying new sidewalks, and providing housing for low-income people. Personally, I expected to see the situation much sadder, but I noticed that the process is slowly moving in a positive direction. Very slowly, but progressing. There is a long way to go when a mass tourist, and that tourist is an ordinary Liepaja resident, will be able to come to the town and say that it’s cool here.

Administrative building a ship repair plant that once repaired warships. Now the enterprise seems to be operating, but far from being on the same scale as before. With the collapse of the USSR and the establishment of a planned economy, thousands of military personnel and civilians left the city, for whom there was no work left, and the 90s were marked by a general exodus of the active, able-bodied part of the population.

Nearby you can see a depressing sight at the site former home Baltika culture. There are many similar boarded up and forgotten buildings in Karosta and Tosmare (Tosmare is the adjacent area), but again, I repeat, time is needed.

During the Soviet era, military personnel, their families, workers from surrounding industries and civilian civilians lived in a military town. The area was pleasant and well-groomed, but in the mid-90s it was dangerous to go here. Suddenly a huge number of various gopniks, lumpen and outcasts appeared, the criminal situation was extremely unfavorable.

Now about 7 thousand people live in Karosta. I talked to people living there. They are positive, don’t complain, there are shops, transport connection communication with the main city is good and regular. Just poverty, salaries are very low, pensions are also small, there is little work.

This is the Tosmare residential area, a courtyard between five-story buildings. Noteworthy is the graffiti with Russian flag, standing out brightly against the background of the February grayness. By the way, national composition The current residents of the town are approximately this: 70% are Russian-speaking, and for the remaining 30% Latvian is their native language.

One of the local attractions is the water tower, built in 1905 and providing water to the entire territory of the Military Port.

The territory of the military camp is literally crammed with by rail, especially when approaching it. Those paths in the picture lead to the grain-loading terminal on the banks of the Military Canal, which is discussed below.

The so-called Red Store in common parlance, based on the color of the building material. There is also a White store nearby, I mean there is also some kind of local retail chain, but local residents The shops are still called red and white.

Some part of the town is occupied by similar housing stock - houses built after the war.

Some roads in Karosta are still paved with concrete aircraft slabs, which are gradually being removed.

Major repairs, replacement of road surface and communications on the street where Podplav was located - military base scuba diving. Let me explain that in 1906, the first scuba diving training detachment in Russia was organized in Podplav. The birthplace of Russian scuba diving is located right here, in Liepaja. And in Soviet times there was a submarine base for the Baltic Fleet.

This part of the town is the most neglected. The condition of the buildings is deplorable.

Podlav's services and barracks were located here; the newest submarines of the Baltic Fleet were once based here. Now there are no submarines or Podplav in the Military Town, but the only diver training center in the Baltics operates. And sappers are also trained there.

There was a large swimming pool somewhere here, but no trace of it remains. Here, by the way, there seems to be an open passage to Podplav harbor, but there are also prohibitory signs. So I didn’t go further into the closed port area.

A little more of the Soviet housing stock of Karosta. Do you want to know how much real estate in such houses costs? A 2-room apartment of 48 square meters that requires minor cosmetic repairs can be rented for 4-5 thousand euros. There are frankly few people willing so far.

Liepaja St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1903 in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II and his family. During the times of the Latvian USSR, the cathedral housed an ordinary sailor's club and a cinema.

From the cathedral, in a straight line, 300 meters to the shore. On the horizon you can see the northern pier, protecting the port of Liepaja from wind and sand deposits.

Then I headed to the ruins of Libavskaya, and left the military town through the famous drawbridge, which is on the Military Canal. The bridge was designed according to the sketch of the same Eiffel and was intended to ensure navigation along the canal of the military camp of the Libau base and land communication between Karosta, which is a separate administrative unit, and Libau. The bridge is formed from two identical movable trusses, which each rotate 90 degrees in its own direction.

Some information about the bridge. It is considered a technical monument and is the only surviving drawbridge in Latvia. It is interesting that Alexander Gustav Eiffel himself only sketched a technical sketch, according to which the final project was developed in St. Petersburg, and the metal structures were brought from Bryansk.

The bridge failed several times; it was damaged by the German army during the First World War and during the Great Patriotic War. And a little less than 10 years ago, a completely anecdotal incident occurred - the Anna tanker, sailing under the flag of Georgia, crashed into the northern span of the bridge, again damaging it, and this happened before the long-awaited large-scale reconstruction. The reconstruction project had to be revised again.

The military canal, the construction of which required enormous, expensive hydraulic engineering work.

The gloomy but calm Baltic Sea is on the horizon.

Next I’m heading to “mainland” Liepaja and hoping to return to the town in the summer. What can we say in summary? The area is difficult and ambiguous, little by little changes are taking place for the better. Of course, there are many terrible neglected corners in the town, there is a lot of work ahead, but...perhaps now there is a slow awakening after many years of hibernation.

The seaport of Liepaja is located on the shores of the Baltic Sea. This 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 transhipment terminals designed to handle various types of sea cargo. The port's cargo terminals are equipped with modern technical means and areas - special open areas and covered warehouses. The port also has granaries, tanks for storing fuel and lubricants and refrigerators.

Technical characteristics of the seaport of Liepaja

The territory of the seaport of Liepaja 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 work was 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 there are both open cargo areas (170,000 m²) and covered warehouses (36,000 m²).

The total cargo turnover of the seaport is 3 million tons per year.

The berths of the Latvian port of Liepaja allow working with vessels of the PANAMAX and HANDYMAX types having the following characteristics.

Maximum draft of the vessel – 9.7 m (at zero water level)

The maximum width of a cargo ship must not exceed 35 m

Can handle vessels with a maximum length of 230 m

Port of Liepaja on the map

Advantages of the Liepaja port:

• The seaport does not freeze throughout the year;
• The port water area is reliably protected by a system of piers and breakwaters;
• A short distance from open sea to the quay wall;
• Minimum distance to the ports of the Scandinavian countries.

Liepaja port address

Phoenix street 4, Liepaja, LV-3401

Port administration telephone:

fax +371 63480252

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You must have JavaScript enabled to view it.

Official website of the seaport of Liepaja: www.liepaja-sez.lv

Video - Liepaja seaport

Special economic zone of the seaport of Liepaja

The main difference between the Liepaja seaport and other major ports of Latvia is that the port of Liepaja is not granted the status of a free port. But, despite this, it is worth noting that the port area, which occupies most of the city, is covered by a special economic zone. This economic zone was primarily created to attract various industrial enterprises, but transshipment of sea cargo in Liepaja is not the least important. The turnover of sea cargo transportation through the Liepaja seaport has doubled compared to 1997 to 5 million tons of sea cargo per year.

The special economic zone in Liepaja includes 32 enterprises. These enterprises are engaged in port activities, wood and metal processing, the production of various types of plastics, the production of automobile wheels, and the production of technical oxygen.

Liepaja, Latvia: the most detailed information about the city of Liepaja, the main attractions with photos and descriptions, location on the map.

Liepaja city (Latvia)

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 Latvian ports. In addition, Liepaja is known as a resort center, even though the recreational conditions 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 blows from the sea almost constantly here.

Geography and climate

Liepaja is the most western city Latvia, located between the Baltic Sea and Lake Liepaja. The sea coast is mainly stripes 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.

Story

The first mention of a fishing village on this site dates 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 passed 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 (former lands of the Livonian Order). In 1625, Liepaja received city privileges. New town began to grow and develop quickly, becoming one of the most important ports of Courland and shopping centers 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 Libau. During this historical period, Liepaja develops as major port, a fortress is being built here and Railway. The city is also turning into 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.

How to get there

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 Lithuanian Klaipeda. You can get there by bus from Riga (about 4 hours), Kuldiga, Ventspils, Klaipeda and some other cities. Railway connection- Riga and Jelgava. Nearest international major airport located in the capital of Latvia. A ferry service links the city with Travemünde, which is located in Germany near Lübeck.

Beaches and recreation

The swimming season lasts only one and a half months - from the end of July (beginning of August) to September, because... Baltic Sea warms up quite late. This must be taken into account when planning your vacation. The beaches are sandy. We recommend the beaches of Vecliepaja and Dienvidrietumi with beautiful white sand, which are located in the central and southwestern part of the city. Although there are several beaches in the northern part of Liepaja.

Sights of Liepaja

The sights of Liepaja are mainly concentrated in historical center. Although there is no place here that can be called an old town. Old wooden houses and Art Nouveau buildings are scattered throughout the city center and its surroundings.

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 took part in the laying of the first stone and the first service. Construction of the cathedral, nicknamed the sea cathedral, lasted from 1901 to 1903.

Church of St. Anne's is the oldest religious building in Liepaja, built at the beginning of the 16th century. This is a Gothic brick building with high tower, a beautiful altar - a Baroque masterpiece and one of the largest organs in Latvia.

Church of St. Joseph - Cathedral, built in the 19th century in neo-Gothic style.

What else to see in Liepaja - interesting places

• Seaside park located near the central beach.
• Luther Church, built in the first half of the 20th century.
• Ancient wooden architecture (in the Primorsky Park area).
• House of artisans - amber products.
• The Ghost Tree is a commemorative metal structure in the city garden.
• Rose Square and Çakste Square.

Video - Liepaja city