First commercial ship berths at Rijeka Gateway, marking operational kickoff

September 11, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

The Rijeka Gateway, a joint venture (JV) between Denmark-based shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk’s APM Terminals and Croatian investor Energia Naturalis (ENNA Group), has entered its operational phase with the arrival of the first commercial vessel, the Al Jasrah.

According to officials from ENNA Group, the 368-meter-long and 51-meter-wide Liberia-flagged containership Al Jasrah berthed at the Rijeka Gateway on September 10, marking the official start of the terminal’s operations.

The nine-year-old vessel—owned by German container shipping heavyweight Hapag-Lloyd—arrived in Rijeka from Port Said, Egypt, as part of the Asia–Europe route that it services.

Reflecting on the occasion, Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, highlighted that this was a “historic moment” both for Rijeka and the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, as well as for the entire nation.

Butković also stressed that the road to the opening of the terminal was “demanding”, from securing financing and constructing the access road to inking the concession agreement.

“We now have the first vessel berthed at a new, sustainable, ‘green,’ and technologically most advanced container terminal in this part of Europe. When we signed the concession agreement with Rijeka Gateway in November 2021, I said it was the largest agreement in the history of the Port of Rijeka, the most significant in importance and value, for this city, for the Port Authority, for the port, the transport corridor, and the entire Croatian port and transport system,” Denis Vukorepa, Director of the Port of Rijeka Authority, stressed further.

Vukorepa also elaborated that when all investments in the Rijeka Gateway and transport infrastructure were summed up, they reached about €600 million (approximately $701 million).

The investment reportedly encompasses the 400-meter quay, which was funded by a World Bank loan, the construction of the DC 403 access road, internal port roads, the intermodal terminal, the rail interface for the new terminal and the concessionaire’s investment—accounting for €380 million—in hinterland as well as the Rijeka Gateway’s equipment, which comprises STS cranes, storage and gantry cranes and other installations.

“Reliable rail connectivity is extremely important for our terminal, so we strongly support the construction of the lowland railway that will enable Rijeka to become the entry point for Central and Southeastern Europe. Currently, our plan is to handle 60% of terminal-related traffic by rail, and we look forward to the potential to increase this share further, as it will strengthen both the competitiveness and sustainability of the terminal,” Tomislav Rosandić, CFO of Rijeka Gateway, remarked.

As disclosed, the Rijeka Gateway has also been included in the Gemini Cooperation that has been set up between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, specifically on the EA12 service.

To remind, the terminal’s construction began two years ago, namely in September 2023. In this initial phase, Rijeka Gateway saw the building of the 400-meter-long and 20-meter-deep quay, with a planned annual capacity of 650,000 TEUs. Upon the envisioned expansion, this is set to grow to 680 meters of quay and a capacity of over one million TEUs.

In October last year, it was revealed that the terminal had secured electricity from renewable energy sources to power its operations. As divulged at the time, electricity supplier and member of the ENNA Group, ENNA Next, is in charge of issuing the necessary green certificates to make sure the entire energy supply comes primarily from green sources, i.e., either solar or wind power.

In mid-August this year, Rijeka Gateway reached its final phase and inched a step closer to full operations, with the arrival of the 1,440 TEU container vessel M/V Cape Fulmar, which also sailed into Rijeka from Port Said.

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