Record-breaking investments in the Port of Gdansk. It is on its way to become the largest transhipment port on the Baltic Sea

In several years Gdańsk may become the largest deep-water port on the Baltic Sea. In this year alone, PLN 170 m will be allocated for dredging, quay extension, road and rail system modernisation and new car park construction projects. All these projects will be completed by 2020. By that time investments will have reached one billion zlotys. The projects will make it possible to multiply the potential of the Port of Gdansk and its transhipment capacity. In 10 years the Port of Gdansk might be handling transhipments of 100 million tonnes annually.

“By the end of 2018, we will have spent nearly PLN 170 m as part of the port’s investment programme. This amount includes the reconstruction of the quays in the inner port, construction of a buffer car park and further modernisation of the road and rail systems in the port area,” underlined Marcin Osowski, Vice-President of the Board for Infrastructure, Port of Gdansk Authority, in an interview for the Newseria Biznes information agency.

In 2017 alone, PLN 29 m was spent on projects in the Port of Gdansk. This year the amount will be six times higher. The two largest projects – dredging and reconstruction of the quays in the inner port, and the modernisation of the road and rail systems in the outer port – will cost PLN 600 m with 85 percent of the costs co-funded by the European Union. The fairway will be dredged to 12 metres, and to 10.8 metres in the Kaszubian Channel. Also 5 km of quays will be modernised – Oliwskie, Obrońców Poczty Polskiej, Mew, Dworzec Drzewny and Zbożowe. This will allow larger ships with a draught up to 10.6 metres to enter the inner port.

“By 2020 the Port of Gdansk will undergo a radical change. This will be the finish line of all EU projects. For about PLN 500 m we will be completing the reconstruction of quays in the inner port and the construction of brand new road and rail systems in the outer port,” Osowski announced.

Under the extension and modernisation of the road and rail systems in the outer port, we will see the redevelopment of, among others, Budowniczych Portu Północnego Street and the construction of a car park for lorries on Portowa Street. This project will be worth PLN 180 m.

Also, a new Nabrzeże Północne (Północne Quay) will be created, thanks to which the Port of Gdansk will receive, among other things, a ro-ro terminal.

“The projects are being carried out mainly to multiply the potential of the Port of Gdansk and its transhipment capacity. The port will have a real shot at becoming the largest transhipment port in the Baltic Sea,” Vice-President explained.

As underlined by representatives of the Port of Gdansk, new projects will not only make the port more attractive, but will also allow us to obtain new competence facilitating the construction of the Central Port.

“The Central Port construction project is a flagship and core project of the Port of Gdansk. “This is a strategically new, deep-water quay, or rather a system of quays, which will play the main role in respect of transhipment for the whole of Gdańsk and, in a broader perspective, for Poland and Central Europe,” Osowski indicated.

The construction of the Central Port, though extremely cost intensive, can pay off quickly. The Central Port will translate into considerable profits and transhipment capacity.

“The Port of Gdansk contributes approximately PLN 1 bn to the budget from the existing quays and carries out transhipments at 40 m tonnes. Thanks to the Central Port, its transhipment capacity will increase to 100 m tonnes, which means that the construction costs will be recouped really quickly. The Port will quickly multiply the revenues of the state and the City of Gdańsk,” said Marcin Osowski.