Maltese operator Mariner will invest €20 million to expand its Baltic Container Terminal (BCT) at Latvia’s Riga Freeport.
The funds will see the capacity of BCT, which handled record volumes last year, increase from 450,000 TEU to 600,000 TEU, according to the Times of Malta.
As part of the investment, an additional ship-to-shore (STS) crane will be purchased, while warehousing facilities, commissioned in December 2013, will be expanded to double their current footprint over the next decade.
Speaking to the Times of Malta, Marin Hili, Mariner chairman and CEO, said that the company is also currently seeking further investment opportunities in the Baltic region and further afield.
“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,” said Hili.
“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, who took full control of BCT at the start of 1999, was granted a 25-year extension to its concessionary agreement in 2012.
BCT is the fastest growing container facility in the Baltic States, handling 70 percent of Riga Freeport’s container throughput during the 2013 calendar year.
