English
On May 12 Mr. Jarkko Virtanen, Deputy Mayor of Turku (Finland), Ms. Marjukka Karttunen, the Port of Turku Board Chairman, Mr. Christian Ramberg, the Executive Director and the port Board members visited the Freeport of Riga. Delegation included the Port of Turku partners - representatives of ferry lines Tallink Silja Line and Viking Line. The purpose of the visit was to learn more about the Freeport of Riga operation and current issues, as well as discuss possible co-operation related to ro-ro and passenger transportation.
The Finnish delegation met the Freeport of Riga CEO Leonids Loginovs, a member of the Board Baiba Broka and the Harbour Master Arturs Brokovskis- Vaivods. With the aim to explore the new port projects and development plans, the guests sailed through the port water area. Visiting the Vessel Traffic Service Centre, Finnish delegation was informed about the Freeport of Riga progress in improving the quality of services and strengthening of the port security.
Turku port representatives were impressed by the Freeport’s cargo turnover indicators and quantity of the port terminals as well as by the Freeport’s experience in successful management of a large port. The amount of cargo handled at the port of Turku in 2015 was 2.36 million tons, the said amount mainly consisted of containerized and ro-ro cargo. However, the Riga port representatives could learn from Finnish colleagues how to develop such area of business as passenger transportation - during the year the port of Turku served 3 million passengers. Due to the fact that the Port of Turku plans the development of a new port area to accommodate terminals and logistics service providers, Finnish delegation was very interested in development of the Freeport’s new infrastructure projects on Krievu Island and Kndzinsala.
Turku is the oldest city in Finland; it has been a major freight and passenger port for many centuries. Thanks to its favorable geographic location in the south coast of Finland, for more than 860 years Turku has served as Finland's “sea gate” to the west – the Nordic countries, Central Europe and the Baltic countries. Starting from 2000, the Port of Turku has maintained a leading position in Finland as a distribution center for cargo from the Nordic countries. Similar to the Freeport of Riga the Port of Turku is the TEN-T port (Trans-European Transport Network - one of the main European Union’s logistics channels). The Freeport of Riga Authority has maintained good cooperation with the port of Turku by working together in the framework of the European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) and by direct exchange of information, participation in exhibitions and conferences.
