A historic moment for the Port of Riga: the container ship MSC MARITINA V, the largest vessel ever to visit Riga, docked on Sunday night. Operated by the Swiss-based MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company), the 266-meter-long ship with a maximum capacity of 4533 TEU entered the regular route of the Port of Riga. After berthing at SIA “Rīgas Centrālais Termināls,” the vessel has now shifted to the berth of SIA “Baltic Container Terminal” for ongoing loading operations. Tomorrow, MSC MARITINA V is set to depart for the port of Le Havre in France.
The Port of Riga stands as Latvia’s exclusive hub for regular container traffic, hosting six major container lines, including CMA CGM, Maersk, MSC, Sea Consortium Pte. Ltd Trading, Unifeeder, and Samskip Multimodal B.V. Last year marked a milestone for the port’s container segment, surpassing 5 million tons of containerized cargo (465.4 thousand TEU) – a 9.8% increase from the previous year. Notably, container cargo claimed 27% of the total cargo portfolio, marking a historic high for the Port of Riga.
MSC, recognized as the world’s largest sea container shipping company, commands approximately 19.7% of the global container ship fleet. With a fleet of 800 container carriers and an annual transport volume of 22.5 million TEU containers, MSC operates 300 routes and serves over 520 ports worldwide. The company’s notable vessels include the world’s largest container ships, MSC Turkiye and MSC Michel Cappellini, each with a capacity exceeding 24 thousand TEU. MSC’s extensive global presence includes SIA MSC Latvia in Riga, among its 675 representative offices in 155 countries.