August the 31st, 2026 – Rijeka has become a key regional hub as the Rijeka Gateway facility welcomes its 100th vessel.
Rijeka Gateway successfully tested parallel ship operations for the first time back in April, as this operating model enables better utilisation of the operational quay, shorter waiting times for ships and greater efficiency of terminal operations. Poslovni reports that Rijeka Gateway is currently the technologically most advanced container terminal in this part of Europe, marked the arrival of its 99th and 100th ships just a few days before the first anniversary of the start of commercial operations at the terminal. The feeder ships Moraga and Conship Luv berthed at the terminal almost simultaneously, after which terminal operations of unloading and loading cargo began.
The ships Moraga and Conship Luv, which have been calling at Rijeka in a regular weekly rotation since the end of July, have further strengthened the role of Rijeka Gateway and cooperation with the global shipping companies Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk. After the successfully established cooperation model with Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd has also started using the terminal as a transhipment hub for import and export cargo from neighbouring Italy, just across the Adriatic.
In this way, Rijeka Gateway has further confirmed its role as a regional logistics hub for container traffic within the Adriatic and is currently the only terminal on the Adriatic that performs this type of operations within the Gemini network. The Gemini network is an operational cooperation between the companies Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, which covers seven main global trade routes and serves to accelerate and optimise traffic, and Rijeka Gateway is a key port of call within the Gemini cooperation on the AE12/SE1 line that connects major Asian ports with the Mediterranean. Rijeka is now further connected with Trieste, Venice, Ravenna and Ancona over in neighbouring Italy, and the terminal has expanded its accessibility and connectivity with regional markets.
“It’s a particular pleasure for us that we welcomed the 100th ship before marking the first anniversary of commercial operations. In just one year, as a newly built terminal, Rijeka Gateway has received 100 ships, of which 47 large container ships, so-called mother vessels, on intercontinental services between Asia and Europe, and 53 feeder ships that connect Rijeka with regional Italian ports. But behind each of these numbers stand people. I am extremely proud of our team, which in a very short time has built organisational and operational capabilities comparable to the best terminals in the network. Today Rijeka Gateway employs more than 420 people, and it is precisely their expertise, dedication and professionalism that have enabled the achievement of such a significant success already in the first year of operations,” stated Peter Corfitsen, Chief Executive Officer of Rijeka Gateway.
