Koper (Slovenia)

Koper is an Adriatic port town in southwestern Slovenia, with total area approx 13 km2 (5 mi2) and population around 25,000. The other Slovenian port towns located along country's 47-km (29-mi) long coastline are Izola, Piran, Portoroz and Ankaran. Koper is located in Istrian Region, approx 5 km (3 mi) from the border with Italy.

Koper is among the main road entry points from Italy (which is to the north of the municipality) into Slovenia. The main motorway crossing is to the north of Koper, at Spodnje Skofije. The motorway continues into Trieste and Rabuiese. Koper also features a rail connection with the capital Ljubljana. There is a crossing on the coast at Lazaret into Lazaretto, Muggia municipality (Trieste province). The Italian border crossing is famous as San Bartolomeo. Don't miss the opportunity to see the Postonja Caves, an immense subterranean network of chambers and galleries. A small train takes tourists through the well-illuminated caverns with their colorful stalagmites and stalactites.

Officially, the city is bilingual, with both Italian and Slovene as official languages. The main sights in Koper include the 12th-century Carmine Rotunda church, the Cathedral of St Nazarius with a 14th-century tower, and 15th-century Praetorian Palace and Loggia built in Venetian Gothic style. First founded during Roman Empire (27 BC - 1453 AD), the port has played a significant role in the development of the region. It is one of the largest and the most important transit routes for shipping Asia-produced goods to central Europe. In contrast with other seaports in Europe (which are usually managed by port authority companies), Port Koper is a terminal operator, free zone and port area.

Port Koper

Featuring unique biodiversity and ecology, Koper is considered a major national natural resource. Port Koper (Luka Koper) is the prime contributor to the economy of the whole municipality, as only 1% of Slovenia's territory is a coastline. The cruise port is often included in various Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean) itineraries operated by major passenger shipping lines. Port's cruising season runs from March through late-November - early-December.

• In 2015, MSC Musica (LOA length 294 m / 965 ft, max capacity 3200 passengers and 990 crew) became the largest cruise liner to visit Koper.
• In 2016, the cruise port handled a total of 65 ship calls.
• In 2018, the port handled 83 ship calls (40% increase over 2017) and around 100,000 passengers. New company for the port was TUI Cruises.
• For season 2019 were booked 85 ship calls (10% increase over 2018) with estimated around 110,000 cruise tourists.

In 2015, Port Koper was chosen by Daimler AG (Stuttgart Germany-based automotive corporation) as one of the company's main export ports for Mercedes-Benz vehicles. In 2018, Port Koper's Car Terminal handled 754,000+ vehicles, ranking it among the Mediterranean's largest car terminals. Future development projects (totaling EUR 40 million) included building a new garage (6000 lots) which increased the annual car export by ~162,000 units. In 2022, the Car Terminal recorded 800,000 units (vehicles handled).

In 2019, Port Koper started the construction of new railway tracks to serve the car terminal (located in seaport's north-eastern part) with scheduled completion in early-2020. For the project was contracted the company Kolektor CGP, specializing in production and installation of asphalt, concrete, sand-gravel, surface coatings, construction machinery.

Part of the 2019-2020 port development project (budgeted EUR 12 million / USD 14M) was also building a new RO-RO (cargo ferry) berth serving car-carriers. The new dock consists of individual fenders (for RO-RO ships to lean on), a concrete loading ramp, a mooring pontoon. The surrounding seabed was dredged. In August 2019, for the construction of the new car garage (project's Phase 2) was contracted GIC GRADNJE (Slovenia, engineering services) with subcontractor PRO-CONCRETE (Slovenian-Italian company). The garage has capacity 6000 cars, increasing port's annual car throughput to ~162,000 units.

As of 2019, Port Koper has an industrial railway network with total length 35 km (22 mi) interconnecting quays and warehouses. In 2018, the seaport handled 755,000 vehicles. The new railway tracks will speed up units loading and unloading from railway wagons.

For March 2021, Luka Koper reported a record month with handled (at Koper Container Terminal) 97101 TEU-containers. The previous monthly record was in March 2018 (92300 TEUs).

In June 2021 became operational "Link 7D" - the extended containership quay (with a new berth) at Pier I's southern end). The dock was extended by 98,5 m (323 ft).

• A new TEU storage (25000 m2) was under construction and scheduled for completion in June 2022. By this EUR 45,6 million (~USD 54,5M) project (part of NAPA4CORE), the Port's annual TEU capacity was increased by 15% (to 1,5 million).
• Port Koper's development project (total value EUR 248M) is scheduled for completion in 2030. The Project also includes purchasing new STS (ship-to-shore container cranes), building a new quay (length 340 m / 1115 ft), new storage areas (118000 m2/1270140 ft2). By 2030, the Port's annual TEU capacity is expected to be ~2 million.

Container ships at Pier I are handled since 1979, with a 150-m long dock. Since then, the quayside has been lengthened 4 times - to the current 700 m (2300 ft). The Terminal is served by 11x gantry cranes.

Koper cruise terminal