Klaipėda Oil Terminal to Make Room for Larger Tankers

Terminal operator JSC Klaipėdos nafta (KN) has, together with the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority (KSSA), signed a tripartite agreement on the reconstruction of KN oil terminal’s berth No 1 with the winners of the public tender.

The winners of the public tender, which was valued at EUR 22.5 million (about USD 25.2 million), were joint venture partners UAB Tilsta and UAB Fegda.

It is planned that the partners will carry out construction and dredging work over the course of almost two years.

Under the agreement signed this week, the currently unused 235-meter section of berth No 1 will be adapted for stevedoring. In addition, the adjacent ship channel will be dredged to a depth of 17 meters.

Once the three planned stages of reconstruction are completed, KN will be able to receive and load three tankers at a time at the Klaipėda oil terminal. Currently, the facility can receive only two tankers.

“The market has been dictating the need for these changes for some time now – the amount of cargo is growing, new types of cargo are emerging, and customer expectations are changing,” Darius Šilenskis, KN Oil Business Director and acting CEO, said.

“The new KN oil product storage tank park that is currently operating in pilot mode demonstrates this need – we are already loading a greater variety of products and testing a wider range of loading schemes. This dictates the need to develop and adapt the existing infrastructure,” he added.

Specifically, KN will invest in the installation of the superstructure for the works planned to be carried out, and the port authority in the quay infrastructure.

“These are extremely significant jobs that will increase the competitiveness of the Port of Klaipėda even more. Once the berths are reconstructed and a maximum depth of 17 metres is ensured next to them, KN will be able to receive more and larger vessels,” Vidmantas Paukštė, Klaipėda State Seaport Authority Infrastructure Director and acting Director-General, commented.

“Reconstruction of the berths is planned to be carried out in several stages, doing the work in such a way that throughput is not disturbed. In the first phase, the port authority will invest EUR 22.52 million.”

“In parallel with this project, the port authority is also implementing other public infrastructure improvement projects, such as pier reconstruction and dredging of the canal. All this will create even better conditions for KN to accept the largest tankers that can enter the Baltic Sea,” Paukštė explained.

The cost of the first phase works assigned to KN amounts to just over EUR 1.7 million, with the reconstruction work scheduled to begin within a month.

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