International Maritime Day highlights opportunities for developing the blue economy in the Baltic Sea

International Maritime Day is celebrated annually on the last Thursday of September. On 25 September, Riga Technical University’s Latvian Maritime Academy hosted an event dedicated to the occasion, bringing together industry professionals, companies, students and researchers to learn more not only about maritime, but also about technologies and related projects.

During the event, participants also had the opportunity to learn more about the project “MarTe – Centre of Excellence in Marine Technologies for a Sustainable Blue Economy in the Baltic Sea”, in which the Freeport of Ventspils Authority is a project partner. The project’s activities and partners, as well as the work of the Community of Practice, were presented by Kaspars Liepiņš, developer of the renewable energy cluster at the Freeport of Ventspils Authority.

The project brings together not only its official partners – other interested parties, including coastal communities, are also invited to share their views on opportunities for cooperation and future development directions. The International Maritime Day event provided an opportunity to strengthen cooperation and encourage wider involvement in advancing the blue economy in the Baltic Sea.

The MarTe Community of Practice seminar will take place at Riga Technical University on 5–6 November.

This project has received funding from the Horizon Europe subprogramme "Excellence Hubs" (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-07-01) under Grant agreement No. 101186498.

The lead partner of the project is the Estonian Environmental Investment Centre (Sihtasutus Keskkonnainvesteeringute Keskus). The total project budget is EUR 4,999,822.50, of which EUR 369,450 is allocated to the Freeport of Ventspils Authority. The project is being implemented from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2028.