Opening the Gates to the Engine Room of Cargo Handling
During Klaipėda’s traditional Sea Festival, hundreds of local residents and visitors took the opportunity to discover the Port of Klaipėda from a different perspective. The “Port Opens Its Doors” initiative, organised by the Lithuanian Stevedoring Companies Association, invited the public to visit port companies, observe day-to-day cargo handling and logistics operations, and learn more about the port’s importance to both the city and the Lithuanian economy.
Two Association members – Klaipėda Stevedoring Company BEGA and Klaipėda Container Terminal – opened their terminals to guided tour participants. Visitors were able to see first-hand how vessels are received and serviced, how cargo is handled and stored, and how it is subsequently transported by rail or road.
The tours also introduced visitors to the machinery and infrastructure used at the terminals, automated cargo-handling management systems, and the work of port professionals. For many participants, it was a rare opportunity to enter areas that are normally closed to the public and to gain a close-up view of the operations behind one of Lithuania’s most important transport and logistics hubs.
KN Energies prepared a special programme for Sea Festival visitors, inviting them on a ferry trip around the Klaipėda liquefied natural gas terminal. Participants had an opportunity to see the Independence floating storage and regasification unit at close range – a symbol of Lithuania’s energy independence and a strategically important national facility.
According to Laimonas Rimkus, President of the Lithuanian Stevedoring Companies Association and CEO of BEGA, initiatives of this kind help the public better understand not only the scale of the Port of Klaipėda, but also the essential role played by the companies operating within it.
“When we talk about the Port of Klaipėda, we often refer to overall cargo volumes, the number of vessels calling at the port, or its position among regional ports. Yet behind all these figures are individual stevedoring companies and the people who work for them. It is at the terminals that vessels are received every day, cargo is handled and accumulated, and its logistics and onward transportation are organised. Stevedoring companies carry out the port’s core operational activities and directly generate the cargo volumes that enable Klaipėda to maintain its leading position among the ports of the Eastern Baltic region,” said Rimkus.
According to him, the strong public interest in the tours demonstrated that people are keen to learn more about the Port of Klaipėda and the processes taking place there every day.
“The port is an integral part of Klaipėda’s identity, yet much of what happens here remains invisible to local residents because of legal and security requirements governing access to port facilities. By opening the gates of our terminals, we want to show that a port is much more than quays, ships and cargo. It is about modern technologies, sophisticated logistics processes, thousands of jobs, and above all, the people whose expertise and professionalism keep the port running smoothly,” emphasised the President of the Lithuanian Stevedoring Companies Association.
