The ports history

The Saka river was already a port at the time of Duke Jacob (1642-1682) it was used by Aizpute merchants to export trees, grains and other products.

The first wooden bridge construction was created in the winter of 1878 – it was commissioned by the river manor baron Otto von Lilienfeld (Otto Friedrich von Lilienfeld). On May 16, 1879, he held a ceremony where he built the foundation stone of the castle’s house and, on the same day he baptized the city after his brother’s name (Paul von Lilienfeld) Paulshafen or Pāvilosta.
Loch´s house was completed in the same year, and over time it has been used for a variety of things like a tavern, and German army barracks.
Today there is a museum in the loch house.
In the beginning, the port was used only by some fishermen, three small manor sailors and a tug, Which supplied the Liepaja market with goods But soon the shipping activity rose sharply. From 1890 to 1895 the port´s pier was extended to 90 meters, And before the First World War, Pavilosta had already had about 20 ships in circulation and about 100 fishing boats. There were three shipyards in the port, in which small sailing ships were built – one by one, During this time 15 vessels were built in Pavilosta. After the war, the construction of the ships was not continued.

From 1923 to 1929, the port was reconstructed and financed from the state budget. In the reconstruction 2.4 million lats were invested. Although the level of commercial activity was not very high The port had its own border, a border guard and a unit of rescue. Pavilosta was the best-maintained port between the small ports in Latvia.

During the Second World War, no commercial activities were carried out at the port. Because almost all local ships and ships were destroyed during the war. So the only ones who used the port was coastguard.
In 1949 a new shipyard and a fuel warehouse was built. During the Soviet era, the port was managed by a fishing collective farm and local fishermen had limited access to the port.

Since 2006, a new, modern yacht marina has been built in the port “Pāvilosta Marina”
A Statoil gas station was built and a new, 128-meter long fishing berth was built.

In 2010, Pavilosta harbor malls were completely reconstructed, historic beacon at the ends of the piers were restored and dredging works of the Port Aquatorium have been performed up to 4.5 meters deep. Today the north moles length is 287 meters and the south mole is 297,5 meters.

In 2011, on the right bank of the Saka River, a recreational harbor pier has been reconstructed, 90m long multifunctional pier, Which allows small passenger ferries to be accepted at Pavilosta port.