OREANDA-NEWS.  February 06, 2012. Cargo throughput at the port of Ventspils in January 2012 surged by 61% y-o-y fueled by liquid bulk, loose cargo and coal traffic, to more than three million tons, the Port Authority statistics said.

In the reporting period Free Port Ventspils saw 1.6 million tons of liquid bulk cargo, up 46% from the 2011’s figure with a 107-percent spike in suction cargo volume, to 1.2 million tons. Handling of general cargo slid 4 percent to 174 tons. There was also a 47-percent gain in the segment of oil products to1.5 million tons.

Coal shipments jumped by 3.5 times, to 939 tons, handling of Ro-Ro cargoes increased by 11%.

Latvia’s Free port of Ventspils is a deepwater ice-free port. The country’s premier port ranks among leading ports on the Baltic Sea and top 20 European ports. The port can accommodate Aframax size tankers of 130.000 DWT and Panamax vessels of 75.000 DWT. The port encompasses 2623,9 ha with terminals for handling oil products, liquid chemicals, mineral fertilizer, metals, forest products, coal, grain, juice concentrates, containers and Ro-Ro cargoes. Cargo traffic at the port in 2011 increased by 15% year-on-year, to 28.5 million tons.