Sweden's newest major freight port, Stockholm Norvik, has been officially inaugurated by His Majesty The King and Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess.
The RoRo and container port opened for business on time and on budget in 2020, but this was just when the pandemic was at its height, which meant that the official opening ceremony had to be postponed.
“At last! It gives us great pleasure to be able to officially open Stockholm Norvik Port,” said His Majesty The King during the ceremonial ribbon cutting event on April 26, 2023. “The Crown Princess and I have been given a guided tour of the ports and are very impressed by these modern facilities, the different modes of transport that meet here, the flow of goods that connects Stockholm to the rest of the world, and all the new green technology that has been developed here. Instead of the inauguration of a newly opened port, I have had the pleasure of inaugurating a fully operational port.”
Stockholm was already a port even before it became a city. The port and its location were fundamental reasons for Stockholm becoming Sweden's capital city. Down the ages, Stockholm's ports have adapted and grown as the city has grown. This has taken many different forms, but has been vital to Stockholm's prosperity. Around 100-years ago much of the port activities moved from the inner city to the Värtahamnen and Frihamnen districts of Stockholm. At that time it was His Majesty The King's great grandfather, Gustaf V, who ceremonially opened the new Frihamnen Port.
Now, a century later, His Majesty The King has inaugurated a new port that provides Sweden's largest consumer area with a modern port infrastructure for the coming 100 years.
Karin Wanngård, Mayor of Stockholm, said, “The sustainable supply of goods to the Stockholm Region is one of Ports of Stockholm’s most important roles. Today nine goods in ten arrive in Sweden by sea and Stockholm is by far the largest consumer region in the country. We want to provide the best preconditions to get these goods as close to their final destination by sea as possible. With this new state-of-the-art port we can do that. This does not only create growth for Stockholm, but for the entire region and much of the rest of Sweden too."
