VILNIUS, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian state-controlled Port of Klaipeda reached a record cargo handling turnover in 2017, the Baltic Sea port announced Wednesday.

"A total of 43.01 million tons of cargo have been reloaded in 2017, which is 7.2 percent more than in 2016," announced the port.

Record cargo handling was achieved due to consistent investment into infrastructure made in recent years, according to port officials.

"If we wouldn't have made investments three years ago, we now would probably have the same result as our competitors," Arturas Drungilas, the head of marketing of Klaipeda State Seaport Authority, told news website 15min.lt.

The port plans to invest 407 million euros (489.5 million U.S. dollars) into infrastructure in coming four years.

The port of Klaipeda, Lithuania's strategic port town and transport hub, has an annual cargo handling capacity of around 65 million tons and is the northernmost ice-free port on the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.

The port is critical to around 37 percent of Lithuania's transit, according to Arvydas Vaitkus, the head of the Port of Klaipeda.