43% more cruise ship passengers serviced at the Port of Riga this year

RIGA - 85 cruise ships with 115,500 passengers have docked in the Port of Riga this cruise season, which is 43 percent more than last year, said Sandis Steins, Chairman of the Board of the Freeport of Riga Authority, to LETA.

He noted that this is the highest number of cruise passengers handled in the Port of Riga in one year.

At the same time, Steins pointed out that the cruise segment in the Port of Riga will continue to grow in the coming years.

In 2026, 98 cruise ship visits have been registered in the Freeport of Riga, which is 13 ships more than this year. The number of bookings for the 2027 season has exceeded 100.

Steins explained that in recent years, the cruise sector in the Port of Riga has seen a trend towards larger and larger ships with more passenger capacity. According to statistics compiled by the port, the average number of passengers per ship has increased by 40 percent over the last ten years.

As reported, the Port of Riga handled a total of 80,870 cruise ship passengers in 2024, which is 1 percent less than in 2023, when 81,681 cruise ship passengers were handled.

The Port of Riga is the largest port in Latvia in terms of cargo handled.