The 40th Anniversary of the Northern Port
A ceremonial meeting of the stevedores and builders of the Northern Port

27.10.2014

On 16 October 2014, more than 300 guests invited to jointly celebrate the 40th anniversary of launching the Northern Port took their seats at the banquet tables in the unique setting of the newly-launched Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre. This was the way for the PGA SA to honour the builders of the Northern Port and to remind us of this ground-breaking achievement for the Polish economy.

The current management of the Port of Gdansk were delighted to welcome the numerous builders of the Northern Port e.g. Professor Witold Andruszkiewicz (working for the Maritime Institute at the time of the port's construction), engineers Boguslaw Bujwid and Aleksander Bialecki (then directors of the Port of Gdansk), Stanisław Jaworski (then Chief Port Dispatcher), directors of PBIM-Hydrobudowa Marek Bartlomiejczyk and Wieslaw Ochnik, Cpt. Daniel Duda (then Dean at the Gdynia Maritime School), designing engineers of BPBM "Projmors" Kazimierz Mioduszewski, Andrzej Mrozowski and Jerzy Warszycki, the chief designing engineer Zygmunt Walczyna and Eng. Tadeusz Kokczynski (PBPP Supervision Inspector).

The official celebration started off with the retrospect video presentation showing the time of the construction and development of the Northern Port prepared by the longtime Gdansk radio and television reporter Marek Kanski, and with the news of the official visit paid in the Port of Gdansk on the previous day (15 October 2014) by Lech Walesa. The former President of the Republic of Poland, whose commitments made him unable to attend the celebration, sent an official message addressed to the port staff intended to be read in public. His congratulations and greetings also included the following reflection: "...The Northern Port marked the beginning of Poland's regaining its energy independence. (...) The Port of Gdansk, including the Northern Port, represents a remarkable story of the courageous people - members of "Solidarity"- who remained faithful to Poland, for which they deserve our deepest gratitude."

Another letter read in public came from the Minister of the State Treasury Wlodzimierz Karpinski. In addition to his best wishes to the PGA SA Management Board and employees, accompanied by the words of praise for the port's development activities, the Minister also wrote: "Last year, in such important cargo group as containers, Gdansk took the second position in the ranking of the largest container ports in the Baltic Sea. This result would not be possible without the forward-looking decision made 40 years ago about the construction of the Northern Port."

- The work on the construction of the Northern Port commenced in the wake of the decision made by the Polish government on 15 July 1970 - as was reminded by the current members of the PGA SA Executives: President of the Board Dorota Raben, and Vice Presidents Jerzy Melaniuk and Marek Pietruszewski. - As soon as four years later, the opening ceremony was held. This was followed by the subsequent building of a liquid fuel terminal, an ore pier and a LPG terminal. These were the milestones leading to the development of a large-sized port facility, which paved the way for Gdansk to enter the European league of deepwater ports.

This direction of development has been and continues to be implemented. The day of 1 June 2007 saw the launch of the operations at the Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT). The day of 4 January 2010 witnessed the ground-breaking event for the development of the port i.e. the launch of a regular ocean container service connecting Gdansk with the Far East operated by the world's largest container carriers. The port's offer was further enriched thanks to the recently opened bulk cargo terminal situated at the Rudowe Pier. The capacity of "Naftoport" is constantly growing, a PERN storage and handling terminal is currently underway, and the planning of the DCT expansion is in full swing.

In 2013, Gdansk attained the record-breaking throughput in the history o the port, which totalled more than 30 million tonnes. The revenues from indirect tax on goods handled by the Gdansk port reached nearly 15 billion Polish zlotys, which accounts for almost 1% of Poland's GDP and 5% of the national budget revenues.

Thanks to the investment projects implemented by the General Board of National Roads and Motorways, PKP PLK and the City of Gdansk, the road and rail transport connection with the port is greatly improved on an annual basis. The Port of Gdansk with its trans-regional character is increasingly considered as the easternmost continental port of the United Europe.

The current success of the Port of Gdansk would not have been possible, but for the Northern Port. The decision to build deepwater terminals 40 years ago directly paved the way for the continued expansion of the port - e.g. the launch of the aforementioned container hub and the bulk cargo terminal not so long ago, and in the future - the construction of a new deepwater port facility envisaged in the Port of Gdansk Development Strategy.

Expressing her wishes of success on the European and global arena, the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development Dorota Pyc shared her positive outlook: - The effects of the port's work performance enable us to look into the future with optimism. The Port has set out the standards and directions of growth, and become the symbol of the Polish maritime industry. Seaports not only serve as gateways for the flow of goods, but also provide opportunities for growth and development on the regional, national, European and global scale. The Northern Port represents a model example of a port facility which has successfully completed the assigned tasks and fulfilled the hopes that were placed in it. As part of the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment for the years 2007-2013, almost 2.5 billion Polish zlotys were allocated to the improvement and upgrade of the road and rail access to the ports. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Development has now drawn up a new programming document regarding the development of seaports with the perspective until 2030. In the next few years, the Port Authority have scheduled the expenditure of 566 million Polish zlotys - with the EU assistance - on the expansion and infrastructure. The Maritime Office in Gdynia is set to designate nearly 1.5 billion Polish zlotys to the marine access infrastructure. A project covering the infrastructure of rail access to the port is planned, worth 800 million Polish zlotys. The completion of these investment projects will create suitable conditions for the port's growth and development. Our experience provides a solid justification to claiming that these resources will be put to good use. The importance of the Polish maritime economy fully deserves its recognition as a vital sector in the national economy. Our joint effort towards the growth of the maritime industry will enable us to draw the maximum benefits from Poland's coastal location.

The celebration was attended by the Deputy Marshal Wieslaw Byczkowski and Member of the Board of the Pomerania Region Ryszard Swilski who, on behalf of the provincial government of the Pomerania Region, offered their congratulations and an official letter from the Marshal Mieczyslaw Struk. - We congratulate you on your excellent business results and operational performance achieved thanks to the hard work of both the current as well as the previous managements and the entire staff of the Port of Gdansk, and award Madam President with a statuette of the "Pomeranian Griffin" - the symbol of the region.

The event could not have gone off without a keynote address from the PGA SA Chairman of the Supervisory Board and City Mayor of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz. - The Northern Port - he claimed - is praised as a major success regardless of the general assessment of the People's Republic of Poland during the communist era. At that time, it represented the semblance and harbinger of Poland's economic freedom and independence. It is important for us to celebrate its commissioning - an event from 40 years ago - since this investment project has passed the ultimate test of history. However, first and foremost this is a great opportunity for us to commemorate the people whose hard work contributed to the construction and development of the port in its entirety - we simply owe them a debt of gratitude.

More congratulations, thanks and well-wishes were extended to President Dorota Raben by high-profile officials such as Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary State Treasury Commission Tadeusz Aziewicz, Governor of the Pomerania Region Ryszard Stachurski, Director of the Maritime Office in Gdynia Master Mariner Andrzej Krolikowski, and Director of the Customs Chamber in Gdynia Wieslaw Struk, in the presence of representatives of the local and national authorities, trade unions, representatives of the world of science, Polish and foreign business partners collaborating with the Port of Gdansk, and delegates of other ports and consular offices.

The artistic highlight of the gala evening was the performance of the "Ocelot" ballet group from Legnica. The show entitled "The Heart of the Port" had been especially prepared to mark the anniversary of the Northern Port and featured breathtaking acrobatic actions performed right below the ceiling of the theatre hall.

Another important part of the celebrations included the auction of children's paintings created during a special plein-air workshop held earlier on the premises of the Port of Gdansk. The mastery and erudition of the auctioneers helped raise 11,314 Polish zlotys as a donation for the Integration and Family House "Na Jaskowej".

Janusz Kasprowicz
PGA SA PR Officer