TRIESTE – The Rijeka Gateway container terminal was officially inaugurated yesterday in Rijeka (Croatia), now the most modern and technologically advanced terminal in the Adriatic.
The ceremony gathered over 300 guests, including Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. After two years of construction and the operational launch in September, the new terminal involves a total investment of 600 million euros, of which 380 million are allocated to the terminal and the remainder to road and rail connection infrastructures.
The project, born from a joint venture between APM Terminals and Enna Group, represents the largest private investment ever made in Croatian logistics. The goal is to strengthen the role of the Port of Rijeka as a natural gateway to the markets of Central and Eastern Europe, also thanks to the terminal’s inclusion in the East-West network of the Gemini service, the partnership between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd on the AE12/SE1 route connecting Asia and Europe.
«Rijeka has a strategic advantage as the first entry point to Central and South-Eastern Europe,» said Keith Svendsen, CEO of APM Terminals, «and our commitment is not only to the shipping lines but also to the local communities and the country that hosts us.» According to Boštjan Napast, CEO of Enna Group and former president of Luka Koper, the opening of the terminal «is a key step in bringing Rijeka back to the center of global trade routes,» but «the full realization of its potential will depend on the completion of the lowland railway.»
Peter Corfitsen, managing director of Rijeka Gateway, emphasized that «the terminal has been completed on schedule, with 280 people already employed and plans to reach 300 soon. The eighth commercial vessel is already on its way, and we are working to achieve the highest operational standards in the industry.»
In its first phase, Rijeka Gateway features a 400-meter quay and an annual capacity of 650,000 TEU, expected to exceed one million with the expansion to 680 meters. Equipped with four remotely operated STS cranes, 15 RTGs, two RMGs, and 28 terminal tractors, the terminal is the first in Croatia to be managed via a private industrial 5G network. All systems are operated from a single remote control center, ensuring full automation and the use of renewable energy sources.
