The shipping platform

Location: Leixoes is located 2.5nm N of the mouth of the Douro River, on the W coast of the Iberian peninsula near the city of Oporto. General overview: The port of Leixoes serves northern Portugal as an important trade centre, handling containerised cargo, general cargo, solid bulk, liquid bulk and Ro-Ro vessels. There are also facilities available for passenger's vessels. It is a coastal port with breakwaters providing good shelter and is divided into an outer and inner harbour. The Leixões harbour is formed by two curved breakwaters that are 5,240 feet (1,597 m) and 3,756 feet (1,145 m) long. The port is endowed with quays (a conventional quay for general cargo and solid bulk and a quay for liquid bulk), terminals (terminals for tankers, containers, multi-use and cruise liners), a yachting marina, a fishing harbour and specialised facilities (such as for deposits and warehouses). The South Passenger Terminal for cruise ships was inaugurated in 2011 in order to boost the tourism in Porto and the north of the country. The finest cruise ships in the world having been calling at this terminal. The Passenger Station, situated in the North Passenger Terminal, is a beautiful wooden building, which looks like the hull of a ship, and is considered to be Architectural and Historic Heritage of Matosinhos. This space has a capacity for 750 passengers to embark and disembark. Leixoes Ocean Terminal is a crude oil SBM berth, 2.5nm NW of the harbour. Traffic figures: Approx 2,600 vessels, 15,650,000t of cargo, 450,000TEU and 25,500 passengers handled annually. Load line zone: Summer. Max size: - Oil Terminal Pier A: LOA 250m, draught 12.6m, 100,000DWT. - Passenger Terminal: LOA 205m. Longer vessels may be accepted with prior consultation. - Inner Docks: LOA 200m, beam 30m. Offshore SBM: 150,000DWT. Largest vessel handled: "Sakhalin Island", tanker 108,708DWT, summer draught 14.9m.