The Port of Gdansk at the RORO 2006 Exhibition in Ghent

25.05.2006

On 16-18 May this year, the 18th edition of the RORO 2006 Exhibition and Conference was held, with the Port of Gdansk Authority SA taking part as an exhibitor. The exhibition, which this year was hosted in Ghent, Belgium, is held in a two-yearly cycle in different locations.

RORO 2006 had brought together over 120 exhibitors from countries such as Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK, France and Poland offering state-of-the-art equipment and services related to broadly conceived Ro-Ro industry. The exhibition was attended by representatives of over 30 European ports, including Antwerp, Hamburg, Lubeck, Le Havre, Amsterdam, Turku, Rauma, Bilbao, Ghent, Hanko, Hamina, Karlshamn, Trelleborg, London, Kotka, Goeteborg and Rostock. Representing the Polish ports at the event were the Port of Gdansk Authority SA, the Authority of Szczecin and Swinoujscie Seaports as well as the Baltic General Cargo Terminal Gdynia, which at its exhibition stand hosted representatives of the Port of Gdynia Authority SA.

The Port of Gdansk Authority SA held its own exhibition stand, which provided the venue for meetings with prospective business partners. The Port of Gdansk delegation was composed of Julian Skelnik, Vice President of the Board and Danuta Bilat, Head of the Shipping Policy and Tariffs Department as well as Magdalena Obszarska and Joanna Nowak responsible for the arrangement of the exhibition stand and for promotional services. The Port of Gdansk Cargo Logistics was represented by Marek Frackowski, President of the Board.

At the Port's exhibition stand, extensive talks were held with shipowners, Ro-Ro cargo owners and representatives of other ports focusing on the promotion of services offered by the Gdansk port such as the handling of Ro-Ro cargo and passenger cars in the Port Free Zone, at the Oliwskie Quay and the Westerplatte Ferry Terminal. Furthermore, the emerging possibilities were discussed resulting from the construction of a deepwater container terminal in the Northern Port.

On the second day of the exhibition, at a specially designated venue called the Innovation Zone, a presentation of services offered by the Port was held under the headline "Port of Gdansk: Meeting the needs for vehicles and Ro-Ro handling" and delivered by Danuta Bilat.

The narrow focus of the exhibition had naturally limited the number of participants interested in this field. Notwithstanding, at each time, the event continues to feature major European ports (this time without Rotterdam) from which the Port of Gdansk could not be missing.

The exhibition was accompanied by a conference focusing, among other things, on new trends in the industry, Ro-Ro handling in ports and terminals, safety and security as well as environmental protection.

The next edition of the exhibition will be held on 20-22 May 2008 in Goeteborg, Sweden.