This project’s ambitious goal was to open a new chapter in the history of Liepāja port, lifting it from the status of a local port to a new role as an important player on the Baltic Sea. By deepening the sea gate to 14 metres (and to 15.5 metres in the future), and by building a new mooring pier for Panamax ships, the opportunities available to the port of Liepāja have expanded dramatically.

As part of the project, LNK Industries carried out a wide scope of works: from the assessment of the state of the current structures and their repurposing to the designing and construction of completely new structures. The location and form of the piers at the sea gate were changed, while it was possible to deepen the seabed by inserting an underwater supporting wall. The pier, suitable for Panamax ships, was built from scratch.

Liepāja port is exposed to notoriously harsh weather, much more than the ports of the gulf or inland waters. Therefore, all the necessary work had to be carried out in especially challenging conditions.
The construction work — 2,000 metres from the coast, amidst heavy winds, waves and currents, demanded use of exceptionally powerful floating machinery as well as high-precision planning. Such work between September and March is considered nearly impossible due to the harsh weather conditions, requiring a reaction time measured in minutes, not hours. To use the narrow windows of opportunity, the construction work was also carried out on weekends.

The renovation and reconstruction of the sea structures at the port of Liepāja had three main purposes: the reconstruction and reinforcement of the pier as well as the inner breakwater head, the reinforcement of the middle gate heads, and building a new pier near the splitting breakwater. During the construction process more than 1,000 tonnes of steel sheet piles were submerged, with the sheet pile wall reaching the length of 420 metres. To ensure safe operations in the port, around 1,500 cubic metres of reinforced concrete were used in creating new robust structures, besides installing new navigation equipment and signal lights. The seabed was deepened to allow safe passage of large ships.

Liepāja port can now take in and fully load ships measuring up to 240 metres in length and 14 metres in width and draft. Thanks to LNK Industries, this project — unique in Latvia in its scope and challenges — has significantly expanded the capacity of Liepaja port.