June the 27th, 2025 – Rijeka Port has finally begun accepting the type of cargo it has been waiting for years for – 20 of them to be precise.
As Sinisa Malus/Poslovni Dnevnik writes, The final week of June is of enormous significance for the up and coming Rijeka Port. What has been awaited for over 20 long years has now finally happened for the Croatian port which has continually worked so hard to strengthen its position on the cargo map of Europe and the world.
The ro-ro ship Ulusoy 5, a massive 163.8 metres long and 23.5 metres wide, sailing under the Turkish flag, unloaded slightly more than 400 vehicles at Rijeka Port. The cars were manufactured by Fiat, Peugeot and Citroen, and all of them are intended for the Croatian and regional markets. Rijeka Port accepted this enormous cargo at the De Franceschi pier, right next to the Port Authority and Rijeka Port administration building.
The giant vessel, which had travelled across the Adriatic Sea from the Italian port of Gioia Tauro, was easily moored along with its precious cargo to the pier in Rijeka Port. Although this is a relatively small number of vehicles, especially compared to the Port of Koper, where more than 200,000 vehicles were shipped in the first quarter of this year alone, this is a new type of cargo for Rijeka Port and represents a new and deeply desired chapter. Rijeka Port’s management is currently busy negotiating with Stellantis on the continuation of this cooperation, meaning that if successful, cars could be a relatively common arrival as cargo at Rijeka Port from this autumn onwards.
These vehicles will continue to be transported to their destinations by truck. In the future however, the plan is to also transport this cargo from Rijeka Port by rail. The data on vehicle shipment is all the more significant if we consider that in the first quarter of this year general cargo fell, which also affected the reduction Rijeka Port’s sales revenue by 8%. The EBITDA margin achieved in the first quarter of 2025 stood at 12.60% and is 17% lower than back during the same period in 2024.
All of this carries weight for the port if we consider the strong multiplicative effect Rijeka Port has on the economy, especially in the employment segment. Back in 2023, port activity generated a total of 5,635 jobs at the national level; of which 2,550 jobs were directly related to it, 1,413 were related to indirect activities, and 1,672 jobs were created through the effect of personal consumption and other secondary impacts.
The basic scenario for the development of Rijeka Port, prepared by a group of experts for the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) foresees moderate but very steady growth in port traffic and the implementation of already planned infrastructure investments. In this scenario, the port will gradually increase its capacities and traffic by 2040 and strengthen its position in international trade. The economic effects are very significant – the national level will record strong growth in output, gross value added and both direct and indirect employment.
The total real value of production related to the operation of Rijeka Port would increase from around 0.67 billion euros in 2025 to approximately 2.44 billion euros in 2040. Gross value added would reach around 940 million euros per year. Around 2,500 new employment positions are expected to be generated by 2040, which is incredible growth exceeding 40%.
Rijeka Port and its bright future was also discussed during the recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Modi to Croatia.
That visit also confirmed that Croatia is seen across the world as a geo-politically strategically important country and a position for the shortest access to the European market, especially through Rijeka Port. Even if only a part of this potential were realised, Rijeka would certainly provide the proper foundations for long-term growth.
