Slovenia: Luka Koper Presents Pier I Extension Plans

At its meeting of 14th June 2013, the Luka Koper Supervisory Board was presented with plans for the extension of the southern side of Pier I, an investment which will increase capacity at the Container Terminal by an additional 230,000 TEUs per year above the current 720,000 TEUs.

In addition to the dredging of Basin I, the investment also includes the construction of additional 100 metres of operational quayside and a new berth, the creation of a reclamation area for the disposal of dredged silt, the arrangement of handling and storage areas at the southern side of the pier, an extension of the rail network infrastructure and the acquisition of equipment that shall also include a transition to RMG (rail mounted gantry crane) technology.

The project, which will be implemented in phases by way of which individual investments shall be realised in stages, will be completed by 2018. Total investment costs are estimated at 78 million euros. The project is also compliant with the National Spatial Plan for a comprehensive spatial arrangement of the Port of Koper as well as the supplemented five-year port development plan adopted by the Government of RS on 13th June.

Based on the findings of several international studies, demand for container handling in the north Adriatic is anticipated to grow over the coming years, reaching about 6 million TEUs by 2030.

Last year, Luka Koper handled 570,000 TEUs, i.e. one-third of the market share of container freight cargo being handled by North Adriatic ports; at the end of last decade its market share amounted to about twenty-five percent. Luka Koper is thus striving to maintain its pre-eminence as the region’s biggest container port though being able to meet anticipated upward demand.

In order to achieve this objective, the company is implementing a ten-year infrastructure and equipment investment programme at Pier I and its hinterland which shall facilitate an annual throughput capacity of 1.4 million TEUs. Upon the project’s final realisation and the provision of additional railway connections with the hinterland – which is anticipated after 2022 – together with the necessary relocation of terminal facilities for other cargo types to other locations within the port, total throughput capacity will amount to nearly 2 million TEUs per year.

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Press Release, June 18, 2013