A milestone in the advance of the Gdansk port

13.06.2012

11 June 2012 will go down in the history of the Gdansk port as a milestone, similarly to the construction launch of the "DCT" terminal, or earlier of the coal and liquid fuel piers. The official signing of the foundation act, prepared by the President of the Board of "Northern Port" Ltd Jacek Klimczak and officially signed by President of the Pomeranian Region Mieczyslaw Struk, City Mayor of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz, PGA SA President of the Board Ryszard Strzyzewicz and CEO of "DORACO" Building Company Andzelika Cieslowska, marked a crowning achievement in the long-term efforts put forth by the people who believe that the growth of the port facility in Gdansk is the absolute economic priority.

In autumn 2008, the Belgian group "Sea-Invest" acquired the majority shareholding in the Cargo Storage and Handling Company "Northern Port" Ltd. Having more than 5 thousand employees, the group has so far held its operations in 25 ports across Europe and Africa, reporting an annual throughput of 120 million tonnes of goods - mainly dry and liquid cargo. Therefore, the idea of choosing Gdansk as the construction site of a universal terminal suited for handling coal, iron ore and aggregates was devised based on the extensive experience and superb insight into the requirements placed by the maritime trade in this part of the world. Already in spring of 2010, less than two years of its coming to Gdansk, "Sea-Invest" (in agreement with London-based "Arcelor Mittal", arguably the world's largest steel company operating in over 60 countries), through its companies of "Northern Port" and "Rudoport", signed with PGA SA a 30-year tenancy contract for the lease of almost 80 hectares of land with the purpose of building a terminal that will provide two-way dry bulk handling facilities. The provision of the contact giving the year 2013 as the terminal's launching date - as seen from today's perspective - shall be fulfilled. As of this spring, the landscape on the area of the former Ore Pier has been changing day by day, giving evidence to the rapid development and wide-ranging scope of the project, with the Building Company "DORACO" Ltd as its major contractor.

This vital boost to the Gdansk port capacity has gained widespread attention from the economic and business milieu all across Europe. The reflection regarding Gdansk's "golden age" and the foundations of the Hanseatic League was brought to mind again in spring of the last year when the owner of "Sea-Invest" group, Philip Van de Vyvere visited the location of the projected construction, accompanied by the President of the Flemish Region and Prime Minister of the Flanders Kris Peeters and Ambasador Raoul Delcorde. - In the Kingdom of Belgium - as was emphasized then - the Flanders Federation has the largest share of GDP and "Sea-Invest" holds the leading position among several hundreds of international concerns and industrial groups creating the economic growth. Already in 1994, in recognition of the prospects of mutual profits, the governments of the Flanders and Poland signed an agreement on wide-ranging cooperation. During the visit, a letter of intent was signed, declaring that both sides would undertake to expand the area of land designated for development by the Belgian group.

It came as no surprise, therefore, when in autumn 2011 the economic mission arrived in Gdansk, consisting of more than 30 Belgian companies. Held under the auspices of the government agency "Flanders Investment & Trade" and the Gdansk Economic Development Agency "Invest-GDA", the bilateral discussions of potential business partners representing both countries revealed much interest in shipping services offered by the seaports of Gdansk and Gdynia. The presentation featuring Gdansk evoked great response.

The largest easternmost and ice-free all year round seaport in the southern Baltic operates at the same time as a major node of EU road and rail Transport Network No. 6 extending to Vienna and Bratislava. Having hundreds of hectares of storage yards and warehouses at its disposal, the Port of Gdansk continues to offer land designated for the development of new business projects. The deepwater outer section of the port (up to 15 metres in depth) can accommodate the biggest vessels that pass through the Danish straits. Additionally, wide-ranging facilities of the Port Free Zone are offered to those interested in large-scale trade exchange. The port operations include handling liquid fuels from ships of up to 300 thou. DWT, including gas carriers of up to 40 thou. DWT serviced at the LPG Terminal. Loading services to 150000-tonne vessels are performed at the coal piers while transloading of vessels half that size, with up to 10.2 metre draught, is carried out in the Gorniczy Basin. Two Gdansk-based container terminals of DCT and GTK are currently handling container-carriers of up to 15,500 TEU and 1,500 TEU respectively. Both terminals provide docking berths for refrigerated containers. The other port quays fitted with facilities such as Ro-Ro ramps are suited to handling general cargo, aggregates and dry goods, as well as solid and liquid chemicals. They also handle oversize cargo under the "project cargo" scheme.

The port's all time high throughput of almost 30 million tonnes in 1978 was achieved mainly thanks to the handling of exported coal and liquid fuels. The success of 2010 was greatly boosted by the container handling at "DCT". Although the building of the Gdansk port brand is greatly strengthened by the rapid growth of this Australian terminal, Gdansk's next success in terms of statistical figures will come as a result of the expanded potential for handling imported dry cargo by the "Sea-Invest" terminal. The Belgian bulk cargo tycoon has chosen Gdansk as the location of its European headquarters. It can be expected that alongside the Baltic container hub, a bulk hub will be launched shortly while the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the biggest Dry Bulk Cargo Terminal in the southern Baltic will mark a milestone in the advance of the Gdansk port.

PGA SA PR Officer