English
On May 19 the German-Latvian Maritime Forum took place at the Culture Palace Ziemelblazma. Riga, Ventspils, Liepaja, Hamburg, Lübeck and Kiel ports’ representatives discussed new challenges for the industry, collaboration capacity and experience in addressing the issues. The forum was also attended by the representatives of Latvian Ministry of Transport, the German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce and logistics business entities from both countries. Forum participants unanimously recognized that changes in the global freight flows, the increasing integration of different modes of transport and public action aimed at the environment protection creates similar challenges for all European ports. Therefore, it is important to exchange experiences and jointly seek solutions to current problems.
Member of the Board of the Port of Hamburg Lutz Birke:
“I am convinced that the ports need to learn from each other. The Port of Hamburg is facing the same challenges as the port of Riga and any other port situated in the center of a big city. On the one hand, every year we have to increase the port capacity in order to maintain competitiveness of the port. On the other hand, we have to comply with the requirements of environmental conservation and enhancement of urban life quality”.
When presenting the Port of Hamburg, Mr. Birke stressed that the new Hamburg Port Authority investment projects are related to enhancement of port operation efficiency – namely, to make operation faster, more consistent, environmentally- and people- friendly. Hamburg Port Authority aims at using the latest technological innovations, creating an intelligent and smart port.
The conference participants also discussed a new approach to port operation and port authority objectives. Prof.Dr.Sebastian Jürgens, Lübeck port CEO : “Ports should develop, should be able to attract cargo carriers and shipping lines - for this purpose the ports today should consider not only marine routes, as it was before, but should be actively involved in the efficient transport connections (rail, road) creation to reach inland destinations. Thanks to well-developed transport links from Lübeck port to destinations in Italy, Port of Lübeck has become the largest German ferry port in the Baltic Sea region”. Prof.Dr. Jürgens was pleased to see that the representatives of Latvian transport sector share his view of the future developments. The planned cooperation and coordination between all modes of transport was demonstrated in the presentation of Latvian Ministry of Transport, and the single Latvian transit corridor offer, providing port, rail, road connections and even aviation service availability, was presented to the audience.
Discussions focused on the new transportation route development prospects instead of traditional connection hubs. Due to the fact that, currently, both the German and Latvian ports are facing the cargo volume drop, new opportunities are essential for the two countries. One possibility is to transport goods from China to Europe by rail, which is planned in the framework of China’s “New Silk Road” initiative “One Belt, One Road”. Being asked to comment on the prospects for the transportation by road, the Freeport of Riga CEO Leonids Loginovs acknowledged that this transportation mode would be beneficial for the port of Riga, due to the fact that the shortest route for Chinese cargo, dispatched to Scandinavia, would pass via the port of Riga. But currently Mr.Loginovs does not see great prospects for this option, because the sea route from China to Europe is still far more cost-effective. The Port of Hamburg Management representatives also currently monitor activities, implemented in the framework of Chinese initiative “One Belt, One Road”, but they do not think that cargo transportation by rail from China in the nearest future will replace transportation by sea.
The Forum participants also discussed the so-called Regulation on ports of the European Parliament and Council. Participants from both the German and Latvian ports were unanimous that the Regulation provides high risk for further development of ports. The Port of Hamburg Board Member Lutz Birke pointed out that the adoption of the said Regulation could jeopardize the Hamburg Port Authority investment projects. The Freeport of Riga CEO Leonids Loginovs stressed that ports of Europe are very diverse, with different development objectives, legal status and public regulation. Provided the same stringent regulation is applied to them, the losers are not only the ports, but the national economy as a whole.
