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2012-02-07 | 03:36
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LITHUANIAN SHIPOWNER'S ASSOCIATION
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About us
Facing the seaAlmost 90 per cent of world trade and more than 5 per cent of the global economy are directly related to marine transport, writes the International Chamber of Navigation Review 2007.
The sea is the symbol of majesty. For centuries it has been the pledge of the rise of the nations encouraging international relations by force, a means of stimulating economic prosperity, wealth and culture. The sea has been the symbol of power for nations throughout history: the Phoenicians, their pupils the Greeks, later the Romans, the Republic of Venice, and the Hanseatic League - all the great geographical discoveries were accomplished by sea and those who dominated oceans. In the course of history the Lithuanians lived far from the main trading routes and did not understand the importance of the sea. They were farmers rather than tradesmen; they were good warriors and conquerors rather than colonisers. Longing for the sea was alien to the Lithuanians...in 1923 wrote the then Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernestas Galvanauskas. On 4 March 1921 a ship sailing under a Lithuanian flag entered Klaipėda Port administered by the French for the first time. It was the two-mast motor sailboat Jūratė, which, like the ship of the same type, the Kastytis, was purchased by the Lithuanian Steamer Company in 1920 and registered in Jurbarkas.
Today approximately 20 thousand people in Lithuania are working in a work related to the marine business. About 2 thousand sailors work directly in navigation companies and the annual contribution of Lithuania's navigation to the gross domestic product of the country totals over LTL 700 million. One working place of a sailor creates four-five working places on the shore - in such areas as ship repairing, loading, ship stevedoring, provision and infrastructure services. After Klaipėda region was annexed to Lithuania on 15 January 1923, Lithuanian flags were hoisted on all public and private companies' ships. The re-established state had to create marine companies, a mercantile fleet, and administer maritime law as soon as possible. It had to train sailors who specialised in different areas and make Klaipėda port known to other seafaring nations. Following several unsuccessful attempts to create Lithuania's own mercantile fleet, the Government of Lithuania authorised the trading company Maistas to purchase ships independently. In the end of 1935 Maistas bought a ship from Germany and named it Maistas. Two more ships- Kretinga and Utena, complete with refrigerators to transport food products - were purchased from Norway. On 21 November 1936 the Government of Lithuania established the marine company Lietuvos Baltijos Lloydas. This was the foundation for Lithuania's mercantile fleet. In the beginning of 1939 there were already 11 trading ships sailing under a Lithuanian flag, which formed the nucleus of the Lithuanian mercantile fleet. Those were the six ships - Panevėžys, Kaunas, Šiauliai, Marijampolė, Utena, and Kretinga; Nida and Venta, which belonged to the private marine company Sandėlis (Sandelis was owned by a Lithuanian merchant, a resident of Klaipėda named Martynas Reišys who founded it in 1922); and three more ships owned by the Company Schwedersky u. Co which were named Friesland, Gotland and Holland. Their total tonnage was 11 358 tons gross and 7683 tons net. This accounted for only 10 per cent of the tonnage necessary for Lithuania to carry cargoes in sea transit in 1939. In 1923, a navigation school to train sailors and specialists was founded under the Technical High School in Kaunas. However, in 1925 it closed down and it was decided to train qualified sailors abroad. The selected young men were sent to higher navigation schools in Latvia, Finland, France and Italy to specialise as seagoing captains, navigators, pilots, marine engineers and other specialities. In total, 26 sailors qualified as seagoing captains between 1925 and1938. Between 1923 and 1930 Lithuania had to beat off the competition from neighbouring ports -Königsberg (East Prussia), Liepaja, and Riga (both in Latvia). These were difficult years. The Government of Lithuania directed the majority of exported goods from all regions of the republic by different means towards the Klaipėda port, which helped enliven the turnover of goods and fight off competition from neighbouring ports. In 1931, Lithuania, which was constantly clashing with Germany due to the sensitivity of the Klaipėda region and tried to avoid its influence, began to orient itself more towards England, as well as Belgium, Holland, Sweden and other countries in marine trade. Between the years 1924 and 1938 the general turnover of the port's goods increased from 438 046 tons to 1 533 281 tons, that is, it increased by 3.5 times. During a 15-year period, exports by sea in tonnage increased almost threefold, and imports grew 3.8 times. The general value of goods as part of the port's turnover accounted for 70.3 per cent. Therefore it can be stated that during those years the Klaipėda port turned into a centre for Lithuania's foreign trade and played an important role in Lithuania's economy. Later historical events put a stop to the successful development of the Klaipėda port and due to those same events Lithuania lost its independence. During the Second World War Lithuania lost its fleet. 40 larger fishing boats, which were either sunk or sailed to Sweden, and 200 smaller vessels, were sunk in the Curonian Lagoon or in the Baltic Sea. All the structures in the port and more than 60% of its industrial enterprises, warehouses and buildings were burned down or bombed. The port's industrial facilities were dismantled and either taken away or broken. During Soviet times early traditions of navigation and ship building and repairing were revived and improved. Vakarų laivų enterprise, which was the largest enterprise in the Soviet Union and three ship-repairing enterprises, as well as the dockyard Baltija functioned in Klaipėda. These enterprises were provided with several modern unique machine-tools and mills, which were without equal in the world at that time. Shipbuilding and repairing specialists were trained at two Klaipėda vocational training schools and in Klaipėda and Vilnius Technical Universities. Quite a number of high-ranking specialists were trained at the Soviet Union's higher schools and academies. As many as 63 ships of different types, 3 railway carriage ferries - the largest ships of that type in the world, 11 lighters, and one ro-ro ship belonged to sea transport of Lithuania between 1985-1990. A total of 204 vessels of different types belonged to the fishing fleet, including mother ships. The vessels sailed to 20 countries across the world and to 109 ports. Four per cent of the total amount of fishing products of the Soviet Union was produced in Klaipėda, 0,8 -1 million tons of fish products were processed. All equipment and gear necessary for fishing, repairing of ships, maintenance of electrical systems, shipbuilding and the implementation of innovations were manufactured in the town of Klaipėda. All in all, 159 ships whose total tonnage was 468 339 tons gross were registered with the Register of Seagoing Ships of the Republic of Lithuania as of the beginning of 2008. The age of the majority of ships of this feel is eighteen - twenty years. Today ships sailing under a Lithuanian flag account for 0,2 per cent in the total tonnage of the European Union.
Sea transport remains the cleanest way of transportation from an ecological point of view. When carrying one ton of cargoes across one kilometre, depending on the type of vessel, as little as 15 -21 grams of carbon dioxide (CO²) is emitted into the atmosphere. Whereas when carrying the same quantity by air transport the amount of carbon dioxide emitted totals 540 grams, and when carrying it by road with a truck and a trailer 50 grams of pollutants are emitted. The eco-friendliness of a ship can be compared at least to the analogy of a cargo carried by an electric train. The Lithuanian transport sector is one of the most dynamic and developing branches of Lithuania's economy. Together with the logistics services the sector they account for 13% of the country's gross domestic product. Last year the income of the sector grew by as much as 32% and amounted to LTL 16,64 billion. Exports of transport services accounts for 58% of the total export services of the country. This is one of the few sectors of Lithuania's economy where exports exceed imports - it is a significant engine to the country's entire economy. In the spring of 2009 the Lithuanian Shipowners' Association will celebrate the tenth anniversary of its founding. Today it includes 10 members which are the country's largest and most efficient marine companies. Last year the attempts of the Lithuanian Shipowners' Association were directed towards achieving that our country's sailors, who work on vessels sailing under a Lithuania flag, would be granted social privileges, which have been given to sailors from other countries in the European Union for several years now, and that the Lithuanian fleet would become a competitive branch of industry and an integral part of Lithuania as a maritime state. |
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