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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.

From 15 to 17 September, the H2Deri@BSP project partners met in person in Helsinki, Finland. Ventspils Freeport Authority was represented by renewable energy cluster developer Kaspars Liepiņš, and the meeting was hosted by project partner Gasum.

This month, machine-building company “Malmar Sheet Metal”, which successfully operates in the industrial area of the Freeport of Ventspils, is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Activities under the “MarTe: Marine Technology Excellence Centre for a Sustainable Blue Economy in the Baltic Sea” project are continuing across the Baltic Sea region, identifying and evaluating marine technologies for testing, implementation and adaptation to the specific needs of the Baltic Sea region. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority is one of the project partners.

A joint digitization project involving Latvia’s largest ports has been completed, resulting in a unified digital platform for the ports of Riga, Ventspils, and Liepāja. Designed to streamline operations and enhance customer service, this shared platform will improve collaboration, accelerate information flow, and reduce manual data entry, establishing a robust technological foundation for the future development of Latvia’s maritime sector. Several datasets related to port management and port services have also been created and made openly available.

Berth No. 16 at the Port of Ventspils has been undergoing extensive reconstruction so that vessels using the berth will be able to use electricity instead of diesel while alongside. Once the reconstruction is completed, Ventspils will have an environmentally friendly berth, resulting in lower noise levels and reduced emissions in the city. 

From March 17 to 19, a Consortium meeting of the European Union co-funded project H2Deri@BSP took place in Luleå, Sweden. The Freeport of Ventspils Authority was represented by Kaspars Liepiņš, developer of the renewable energy cluster.

Igors Udodovs has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Freeport of Ventspils. Previously, he served as Acting CEO of the Freeport of Ventspils, Deputy CEO, and Head of the Marketing and Development Department. Udodovs assumed the position of CEO on 1 March 2026.

At the first Ventspils freeport’s Board meeting in 2026, Valdis Andersons was appointed Chairman of the Board. He joined the Board in December last year as a representative nominated by the Minister for Transport.

In 2025, the terminals operating at the Freeport of Ventspils handled a total of 8.53 million tonnes of cargo, which is a 3.6% increase compared to 2024. Cargo volumes continued to grow across all three major segments ­ - oil products, coal, and Ro-Ro (roll-on/roll-off) cargo transported by ferries.