Sea

© Vidmantas Matutis photo

Spausdinti   Supplement to article

The fact that Liverpool Seaways ferry was detained in Sweden can have an impact on ferry business in Klaipeda.

No losses after the fire of Lisco Gloria

Klaipeda port still experiences losses after the fire of Lisco Gloria in 2010. The fire did not have any impact on container shipping, which experienced the growth of 14 per cent. However, ferry business has experienced some losses. Last year, there were 16 556 ferry passengers, which is 5.8 per cent more than in 2010. Klaipeda port was the last among all neighboring ports in terms of cruise ships passengers with only 21 478. Klaipeda was visited by 302 thousand passengers from cruise ships. Klaipeda port cannot be compared with Tallinn which was visited by 8 million 478 thousand passengers. Tallinn port has good geographical location near Helsinki. The port of Tallinn boasts one of the largest numbers of visitors in the Baltic Sea region. Klaipeda is also behind Riga port which is visited by 839 712 passengers. What has determined the growth of passengers in Riga port? The port has only one ferry line going to Stockholm. This only line has determined such a good performance because this destination is favored by many travelers. Riga has also much more intense cruise shipping. Last year, Riga was visited by 69 cruise ships, carrying 63.5 thousand passengers.

Opportunities for competitors

According to the number of passengers, Klaipeda region is one of the least developed. Only Ventspils has less passengers than Klaipeda, 53 115. However, the number of passengers in Ventspils is increasing. Last year, it had 34 921 passengers more than in 2010. The growth made 192 per cent. This was influenced by the opening of new lines. It seems that the port of Ventspils is copying shipping lines from the port of Klaipeda and offering lower prices for attracting both passengers and cargo. Ferry lines in the port of Klaipeda are to Kiel, Sassnitz in Germany and to Swedish Karlshamn. Ventspils has ferry lines going to Lubeck and Travemunde in Germany and to Swedish Nyneshamn. All these ports are located near the ports to which Klaipeda ferries are going. There is also a separate line from Liepaja to German Travemunde. Almost all the ferry lines in Ventspils and Liepaja are serviced by Scandline. The same company has previously worked with DFDS and transported both passengers and cargo to German ports. When the partnership was over, Scandline created new competitive lines for the port of Klaipeda. Scandline has problems with its employees. Recently, 130 employees of the company held a strike. This was due to the sacking of some professionals working in the ferry lines between Denmark and Germany, Gedser-Rostock and Rodby-Putgarden.