Sea

In the first half of 2025, the Port of Antwerp-Bruges increased container throughput by 3.7% to 6.91 million TEU, despite continued pressure on terminal capacity. Congestion was caused by irregular vessel calls, rerouting around the Red Sea, restructuring of container alliances and reduced schedule reliability, which increased the average container storage period to 7-8 days. To relieve terminal congestion, the port is implementing the Extra Container Capacity Antwerp project, which provides for the expansion of berths and the optimization of the use of current space.

On 7 July 2025, the Port of Gdansk received a delegation from the Embassy of Bangladesh headed by Ambassador Md. Mainul Islam and First Secretary Biswadit Debnath. The representatives of the port presented the strategic opportunities of Gdansk and discussed the prospects of direct sea links with Bangladesh, in particular cooperation with the country’s largest port of Chittagong, as well as participation in LNG projects.

The Investment Council of Moldova has approved the application of the Romanian state-owned company Constanta Sea Ports Authority to purchase 100% of the share capital of ÎCS Danube Logistics SRL, the owner and operator of the Giurgiulesti International Free Port, which is currently managed by the EBRD. Thus, the Romanian port operator will gain control over the key Danube asset.

The state enterprise “Chernomorsk Commercial Sea Port” received a liner container ship for the first time since the beginning of the war and remains the only state port that handles container cargo. Over the past 12 months, the port has handled more than 18 thousand TEU, while the enterprise is actively expanding cooperation and preparing to increase transshipment volumes.

Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has entered into an agreement with Kinetics, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Karpowership, to jointly develop a platform for floating data centers. The partners plan to convert vessels into data centers with autonomous power supply from Karpowership’s marine power plants, as well as from land-based networks, solar stations, and offshore wind farms.

During the Conference on Ukraine Recovery in Rome, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) and the Ukrainian Reconstruction Consortium signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation. The goal of the partnership is to attract European technologies, investments and experience for the recovery and integration of Ukrainian ports into the EU logistics system.

The first meetings of the Steering Committee and the Partner Group of the project “Digital Transformation of Port Management, Improvement of Processing and Analysis of Transport and Logistics Data” were held at the Ventspils Freeport Authority. During the meetings, the participants discussed the key tasks of creating a single digital platform for all participants in port services, ensuring equal access for both international and domestic customers, which will improve the transparency and efficiency of the largest Latvian ports.

The Port of Hamburg is preparing for a major modernization: the entrance to Waltershof harbour will be expanded, and the container terminals will receive additional space and new technical capabilities. The manoeuvring basin will be increased from 480 to 600 metres, which will make it easier for giant ships to turn and improve safety. Already, 90% of the largest container ships are handled in this part of the port, and the project is aimed at increasing the efficiency and sustainability of all berths.

The total capacity of CMA CGM’s container ship fleet exceeded 4 million TEU for the first time this week, while on July 1 it was about 3.99 million TEU. The group has consistently maintained third place among the world’s container carriers, behind only MSC (6.7 million TEU) and Maersk (4.6 million TEU). Over the past 16 years, CMA CGM’s fleet has quadrupled, from the first million TEU in 2009 to more than 4 million in 2025.

On 7 July 2025, Port Gdański Eksploatacja (PGE), part of the Gdańsk Port Authority, signed a contract with Premium Quality Care for the construction of the first facility of the future grain terminal – a flat warehouse on the Szczecin Embankment. This warehouse with an area of 7,000 m² and a capacity of 30,000 tonnes will be part of the first stage of the Gdańsk Agro Terminal (GAT) project, designed for 2025–2028 and focused on agro-industrial exports.