Forum, Lithuania, Port, Transport

Anyone interested in port operations is welcome to make use of this chance to have a look at the backstage of the Port of Klaipeda.

“Such get-to-know tours are very useful for students as during these events we can grant practical access to things that are only known from study books and the obtained information can then be used in the process of training. Our students whose studies are aimed at a specific area are as if a font from which everything springs to life”, - says Birutė Plačienė, associate professor at the Navigation Department of the Marine Engineering Faculty of Klaipeda University.

Klaipeda University students studying Seaport Engineering are among the first to express their desire to obtain a closer acquaintance with the Port. This week Klaipeda State Seaport Authority was visited by about twenty second year students. A few weeks ago Arvydas Vaitkus, director general of the Klaipeda State Seaport Authority, received a group of students from the Lithuanian Maritime Academy.

“We are part of the city, the port is pivotal to the lives of thousands of people yet few know what exactly is happening here. We seek for people to know as much as possible about the port’s specifics, prospects, and contribution to the City of Klaipeda and Lithuania as its influence is immense. The port generates about 4.5% of Lithuania’s GDP, more than 800 companies carry out operations related to the port of Klaipeda, 23 thousand employees there.  The Port Authority alone invests about 8 million LTL into the welfare of Klaipeda but there’re also contributions made by other port companies”, - says Arvydas Vaitkus, director general of the Klaipeda State Seaport Authority, about the importance of the port of Klaipeda.

Open days at the Port Authority will not be the only events to take place this year as the tradition of organizing informative tours around the port aboard the Venus will also be continued. Informative tours taking place six years straight during the summer have generated great interest among the public. Altogether more than 30 thousand people took part in these tours.

Registration for open days at the Port Authority starts from 12 March 2014. You can register by phone: +370 46 499 708 or via e-mail: [email protected]. So far no registration is open for the ship tours.