Approval for the construction of a container terminal in the Port of Gdansk

04.01.2005

Thursday, 30 December 2004, saw the Governor of the Pomeranian Province, Cezary Dabrowski hand over to the President of the Board of the Port of Gdansk Authority SA, Andrzej Kasprzak, an approval of the Pomeranian Governor Office for the construction of the largest in Poland deepwater container terminal. This decision enables the investor, a British consortium of Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT), a launch of the construction work in practical terms.

In line with the previously made assumptions, phase I of the investment implementation will ensure a throughput of the container terminal of 500 thou. TEU. Two berths shall be provided to handle ships of up to 330 meters in length each, including one berth designed for handling Ro-Ro vessels and, additionally, storage yards for containers (also refrigerated ones) developed, as well as infrastructure of the terminal and the approach thereof.

The cost of phase I of the construction work totals some USD 175 million, whilst its implementation, as assured by the investor, will take 46 months. The completion of phase II shall increase the handling capacity up to 1m TEU.

The construction of a container terminal that will boast such parameters (already in operation in the Port of Gdansk, there is the Gdansk Container Terminal that in 2004 had handled 40 thou. TEU, whilst in 2003 - nearly 20 thou. TEU) clears up a fast track towards successive investment projects planned in the Port of Gdansk. These cover, among the others, ferry, Ro-Ro and vehicle handling terminals, as well as a logistical and distribution hub. The implementation of the aforementioned investments entails not only hundreds of new job opportunities, but also a change in the image of the Port of Gdansk, upgrading from a bulk cargo port that relies mainly on the handling of oil crude and coal - towards a universal port. Such is the purpose that has been designated for the Port of Gdansk in the sustainable development plans of transportation network on the territory of the enlarged European Union, which provide for the Port of Gdansk to be ranked as a major multimodal junction within TransEuropean Transportation Corridor no 6 that together with the motorway of the sea will link the North of Europe with its South.