The Port of Gdansk's measured mile

05.09.2011

On 1 September 2011, the Great Court Room at the Gdansk Main Town Hall hosted a large gathering of people, to whom the development of the Port of Gdansk represented both a professional and a lifetime challenge. It is to their credit that more than 40 years ago the shaping of a concept started, aimed at securing Gdansk's strong position among the Baltic seaports. Their grey hair notwithstanding, they cordially greeted each other with a glimpse in their eyes and with great emotions. The pretext for holding the meeting was the launch of the book "The Northern Port in Gdansk - the foundation and the present time", written by the former director for the construction of the Northern Port, Aleksander Bialecki. The 200 pages describe the efforts exerted by thousands of people, of whom only the few are known by their surname.

The reflections and memories of the past were inspired by the photography exhibition including the archive pictures, the most valuable of all, as well as the contemporary ones, showing the port quays view of the present time. The photographs documented the development prospects of the Port of Gdansk and the consequences of constructing new terminals protruding into the Gulf of Gdansk, which today enable Gdansk to accommodate the largest vessels that can navigate the Baltic Sea. This idea - like a "measured mile" indicating the parameters for safely entering the port - provided the optimum conditions for the Port of Gdansk to consolidate its position on the map of the Baltic Sea and to maintain the status quo as the largest Polish seaport for over one thousand years. The strategic decision about constructing the Northern Port, made in difficult political circumstances, provided Gdansk with significant potential for the handling of coal and liquid fuels. This was followed by the DCT Container Terminal launched four years ago in the near vicinity, and currently expanded. Next to DCT, the development of "Sea Invest" -"Arcelor Mittal" owned Dry Bulk Terminal is in progress, with a prospect of becoming a Baltic hub similar to DCT.

The old photographs - just like the drawing of the port dating back to the beginning of the last century - remind us of a rapid pace at which green areas disappear from the land under the PGA SA administration as a result of an increasingly faster economic growth of both the Pomeranian Region and Poland. The state-of-the-art port facility in Gdansk, with its strong competitive position in the region, has proved to be a highly profitable investment. The "measured mile" precisely indicating the terminals' fairways is also a guarantee of safety and security for the whole of Poland.

PGA SA PR Officer