Port of Koper sets March record and celebrates arrival of Hapag-Lloyd Gemini vessel

Over the past few days, Hapag-Lloyd also made its first call at the Slovenian port with a “mother vessel”, as part of the Gemini service operated jointly with Maersk. Two milestones in just a few days for Luka Koper (the port operating company), which hosted the longest vessel ever to berth at the port (368.5 meters in length) and handled 110,810 TEUs in March alone. The previous monthly record, set in October 2024, stood at 106,698 TEUs.

The container vessel Al Nasriyah (Hapag-Lloyd) became the German carrier’s first mother vessel to call at Koper under the new “Gemini Cooperation” alliance, launched last February by Danish Maersk Line. The first ship of this new partnership, the Maersk Campbell—already a regular caller at Koper—had arrived at the terminal at the end of March.

The two carriers have integrated 57 services into their global network, operated by a combined fleet of 340 vessels, many of which are powered by alternative fuels. The jointly operated weekly Asia–Adriatic service connects Shanghai, Ningbo, Tanjung Pelepas, Salalah, and Port Said, with Koper as the first port of call in the Adriatic, followed by Rijeka. On the return voyage to Asia, vessels also call at Sri Lanka, although for now they continue to follow the longer, safer route around Africa.

At 368.5 meters in length, the Al Nasriyah now holds the record as the longest vessel ever berthed in Koper, surpassing the previous record by just over a meter. The ship has a capacity of 15,000 TEUs and is already equipped with an on-shore power supply (OPS) system.

Luka Koper plans to electrify its operational quays in the coming years, a project that will significantly reduce noise and emissions while vessels are docked. In the first phase—scheduled for completion by 2029—OPS connections will be available for both container and cruise vessels.

Meanwhile, Luka Koper is also expanding the northern section of Pier I, which will allow two large ocean-going vessels to berth simultaneously. The first phase of the project is set to be completed by the end of 2027, and once all planned investments are finalized, the terminal’s total capacity will rise to 1.8 million TEUs per year.