RIGA, April 16 (LETA) - The number of cruise ship calls at the port of Riga is expected to increase by 28 percent this year, with 85 calls scheduled at Latvia's largest port this year, the Freeport of Riga Authority informed LETA.

Edgars Suna, Deputy CEO for Port Development at the Freeport of Riga Authority, indicated that this year, 85 cruise ship calls from various European and US operators have been scheduled in Riga, while 90 ship calls have been scheduled for next year.

The first cruise ship of the season, the Ambience of the British cruise company Ambassador, was welcomed in Riga in February, while the next ship call is scheduled for this Saturday, April 19, when the French cruise line Ponant's Le Champlain is due to call at the port of Riga.

At the same time, the freeport, together with the port companies, continues to work on attracting cruise tourists and developing passenger infrastructure in the port of Riga, the Freeport of Riga Authority said.

Suna noted that there is also a strong interest from international cruise operators in Riga, also from a long-term perspective.

He pointed out that the share of large-tonnage ships in the shipping schedule is on the rise, so it is expected that the number of ship passengers in Riga will also increase.

As reported, in cooperation with private investor Riga RoPax Terminal, a new passenger ship terminal is to be developed in the Eksportosta (Export Port) area. With its new terminal, Riga could receive up to 150 cruise ships and 540 vessels in the passenger and cargo segments per year. The new terminal could accommodate around 800,000 passengers in its first year of operation.

Zaha Hadid Architects, the firm founded by the late world-famous architect and designer Zaha Hadid, won a design competition, organized by Riga RoPax Terminal for the new passenger and ro-ro cargo terminal.

The new passenger terminal is scheduled for completion by 2030.

In 2024, the port of Riga handled 80,870 cruise ship passengers, down 1 percent from 2023, when the port received 81,681 cruise ship passengers. A total of 66 cruise ship calls had been scheduled in Riga in 2024.

Riga is the largest port in Latvia by cargo turnover.