Port of Gdansk welcomes the year 2014
30 million tonnes and... more

31.12.2013

Evident in daily handling operations carried out in the port this year, an economic recovery resulted not only in the record large turnover in a thousand-year-old history of the Port of Gdansk, but also enabled for a magic barrier of 30 million tonnes of cargoes handled to be broken through. As early as on the Saturday night of 29 December 2013, the services of the Chief Dispatcher of the Port of Gdansk Authority reported the handling of 30,042,753 tonnes. It is not easy to attribute this figure to a particular vessel. The port's staff worked at the same time on seven vessels, handling general cargo in containers, fuel, fuel oil, coke and aggregates, being cargoes that determine the significance of the Gdansk port in the Baltic Sea Region.

Promising statistics have been reported by all Polish ports since January. In summing up the first six months of 2013, Gdansk also had good reasons to be very optimistic about the future. The forecasts of Deepwater Container Terminal's turnover growth came true. Regular weekly shipping volumes delivered from the Far East as part of the AE 10 Container Service were reinforced by introducing in July the world's largest Triple-E class container ships holding 18,200 TEU at a time to serve the Port of Gdansk. Gdansk was only waiting to be formally added to the elite Top 100 Ports list produced by the British magazine Container Management. The handling of nearly 1.2 million TEU sealed the position for the port.

Since the beginning of the year, the port has recorded a growing number of coal handling operations. The Polish 'black gold' that has not enjoyed great popularity abroad in recent years, started returning to favour. The handling of over 4.6 million tonnes certainly gave a lot of satisfaction to the staff of Port Północny. Liquid fuels, being the commodities that served the basis for the position of the Port of Gdansk in the Baltic Sea Region in the 1970s, also confirmed the importance of the construction and extension of the Gdansk-based Naftoport. Even though 2013 was the first year when no tanker called at Gdansk to pick up Russian transit crude, the port handled almost 11 million tonnes of liquid fuels. The handling of grains (about 1.5 million tonnes) and dry bulk cargoes (over 2.6 million tonnes) also contributed to the good performance of the Port of Gdansk.

The handling statistics are important, but let us not try to remember these figures. The currently implemented and started investments offer newer and newer prospects for the port. It is the value of the commodities handled that best proves the importance of the port for Gdansk, Pomerania Region and the national economy. In 2013, it exceeded PLN 160 bn. It is the figure that provides a basis for the State Treasury's receipts from customs and VAT. This volume will also make the Port of Gdansk's share in the Polish Gross Domestic Product.

Janusz Kasprowicz
Rzecznik Prasowy ZMPG SA