On 25 September, the international hackathon PORTATHON 2026 kicks off in Klaipeda. This year, 120 participants have registered for the 48-hour event, representing a geography that extends far beyond Lithuania. PORTATHON will welcome participants from Serbia and Montenegro, Azerbaijan, Denmark, France, Greece, Romania, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Croatia, Ghana, Lithuania and other countries. It is clear that the port and industry challenges being addressed in Klaipeda are relevant to people working and creating in very different regions of the world.
Over the weekend, participants will form teams and work on four challenges presented by representatives of ports and industry. This year, the focus will be on the use of green hydrogen in freight transport routes, safer city-port interaction, data-driven solutions for more sustainable dredging, and an AI-based industrial resilience and emergency coordination platform.
The teams will be supported by a large group of international mentors, with representatives from ports, technology, energy, industry, business and academia sharing their experience. Within a very limited amount of time, their task will be to help teams test their assumptions, identify the weaker points in their ideas, and understand which proposals have the potential to work not only in a hackathon setting, but also in real-world environments.
“Hackathons are worth taking part in because this community later produces talents who will have to lead us forward in the future – not only us, but Lithuania as a whole. That is why it is important to have a place where they can practise and get used to the idea that there is a problem – we sit down and solve it,” says Karlas Impinnisi, Innovation Project Manager at Klaipėda Free Economic Zone.
Virginija Ketlerienė, Manager of Commercial Projects at Klaipeda Port says: “We take part in events like this because, first and foremost, they provide an opportunity to engage with the city, businesses and scientific institutions. Between communities and organisations, this is a certain form of partnership. On the other hand, we also want to attract scientists, innovators, talents and young professionals to the city. There is also a practical aspect – we want to find certain solutions, because very creative people come here and sometimes we receive a different solution from the one we expected.”
On Friday evening, the teams will begin working and take part in their first consultations with mentors. On Saturday, they will present their interim results and receive feedback from experts, while Sunday will bring the final pitches, revealing how the initial ideas have evolved over 48 hours and what solutions the teams propose for the four PORTATHON challenges.
PORTATHON 2026 is jointly organised by Klaipėdos mokslo ir technologijų parkas and Klaipėdos universitetas with EU-CONEXUS. The event is held under the patronage of the Minister of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania, Edvinas Grikšas.
This year, the hackathon is also supported by Klaipėdos valstybinio jūrų uosto direkcija, Klaipėdos laisvoji ekonominė zona, Schneider Electric, Vėjų spektras, Octohide VPN, Lietuvos jūrinis klasteris and other organisations, whose support and involvement make it possible to turn the marathon of ideas into a space for working on current port and industry challenges.
We’ve also uploaded the photos to our Facebook page: Day 1, Day 2.
