English
Today, 31 January, the first vessel of the international container shipping line Ocean Network Express (ONE) will call at the Port of Riga due to its Baltic Bridge Express (BBX) service upgrade. M/V Essence has a maximum capacity of 1,436 TEUs and is sailing under the Dutch flag. As part of the upgrade, the ship will call at the Port of Riga once a week, connecting with other European ports on the route Rotterdam - Klaipeda - Riga - Tallinn - Kotka - Rotterdam.
“We are delighted to launch the new Baltic Bridge Express service in the Baltic Sea, designed to provide ONE clients with even wider port coverage. Thus, we would like to share our commitment to optimise our container network and provide even more reliable delivery solutions for our clients,” said Svetlana Mackeviča, Managing Director of Transocean Latvia SIA, representing Ocean Network Express.
Ocean Network Express is one of the world's largest container shipping companies, created by merging the container businesses of three Japanese shipping companies - K-Line, MOL and NYK. The company currently operates a fleet of more than 240 vessels, capable of carrying 1.9 million TEU of containers at a time, offering an expeditious and a reliable international network of over 165 services to 120 countries and beyond.
The Port of Riga is the only port in Latvia providing regular container traffic. Last year, two new container shipping line operators added Riga to their routes, with one more at the beginning of 2025. Currently, vessels of eight container shipping lines - CMA CGM, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Rotterdam-Finland Service, Sea Consortium, Unifeeder, Samskip, Reel Shipping and Ocean Network Express – are calling the port, which is a record number for the Port of Riga.
The ONE container shipping line’s vessel will be berthing at the two largest container terminals in the Port of Riga - Baltic Container Terminal and Riga Universal Terminal.
Last year, the Port of Riga's container segment set a new record with 5.03 million tonnes of container cargo or 501.9 thousand TEUs handled in the port, the highest number of TEUs ever, exceeding the half a million TEU mark for the first time. Containerised cargo was the second largest cargo group in the port's cargo portfolio in 2024 with a 28% share.
Information for media
- liene.ozola [at] rop.lv, +371 670 308 53
- Freeport of Riga Authority
- 12 Kalpaka blvd, Riga, Latvia, LV-1010
