OREANDA-NEWS. September 06, 2012. Cargo traffic at the Port of Klaipeda in January-August fell 4.9% compared to the same period last year, to 28.08 million tons, the Port Authority said.

Shipments of liquid bulk dropped 17.3% to 10,097,000 tons, handling of suction and grab bulk cargo shrank by 6.1% from a year earlier, to 9,011,000 tons, general cargo volume was down 2.2%, to 7,291,000 tons.

In January-August, the number calls remained unchanged as compared with the same period a year earlier, 4,526 arrivals, or 36 ships and 247,922 passengers (+8.9%).  

The eight-month volume of Ro-Ro cargo was 3,217,000 tons (+0.2%). Container traffic totaled 250,047 TEUs (-7.1%).

State-run Port of Klaipeda, the northernmost ice-free port on the East coast of the Baltic Sea, is the largest Lithuanian transport hub, connecting sea and inland traffic lanes. There are 17 stevedore companies, shipyards and other operators at the port, providing a broad range of services. In 2011, Port of Klaipeda cargo throughput rose 36 million tons from 31.27m tons a year before.