Mariner, a Maltese company which owns the entire equity capital of Baltic Container Terminal, is investing €20 million to expand its facility in the Latvian capital.
The terminal is the largest one in the Baltic region and last year handled a record volume, amounting to more than 70 per cent of all containers at Riga Freeport.
Mariner is currently also eyeing potential investment in the Baltic region and beyond.
The investment will go to increase the yard capacity from the current 450,000 TEUs (standard unit to measure containerised cargo volume) to 600,000 TEUs and acquire a new ship-to-shore quay crane.
The company is also planning to expand its warehousing facilities, which were commissioned last December, and to double them over the next 10 years.
“Our geographic preferences for expansion have us pursuing opportunities in the Baltic, Adriatic and Black Sea regions as well as the UK and the Mediterranean.
“Our strategy is to strike a balance between acquiring terminals which are already in operation and developing new terminals, to sustain a fiscally-strong position for the group,” Mariner chairman and CEO Marin Hili said.
“We look for terminal projects with the potential for growth, either due to the market being less mature or the terminal being underdeveloped.
“Our experience and competitive strengths enable us to add value in this way,” he added.
BCT is Mariner’s longest standing investment, following a minority acquisition in 1996, which was turned into a full shareholding interest in 1999.
Throughout these 18 years, it has become the largest and fastest-growing container handling facility in the Baltic States.
The company also prides itself of being a pioneer in IT and is the only European terminal to have quay, rail and gate automated operating system modules.
In 2012, BCT was granted an extension to its concession agreement of 35 years, paving the company’s way to 2047.
The company was the largest to be registered in Latvia last year, according to a recent report by the country’s main news agency Leta News.