The Sea of Opportunities...

23.05.2011

Entrusting Gdansk with organizing the European Sea Day (19-20 May 2011) was undoubtedly a compliment paid by the EU to the member state that will soon take over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. "The Sea of Opportunities" - the promotional slogan of the city that has had a seaport at its disposal for over one thousand years - also perfectly reflects the European meaning of common interests shared by the countries having access to sea shipping routes. These issues were examined during the plenary sessions and discussion panels by delegates representing the maritime economy from all across Europe.

Unofficial discussions often focused on the historic call at DCT Gdansk of the giant container ship "Maersk Taikung" and the recent milestone of 11 May 2011 when the concern "Maersk" - with a visit of "Maersk Elba" - introduced to the Port of Gdansk, as part of its AE10 Asia service operations, a series of the world's largest container carriers, which can take on board as much as 15 thousand TEU. This "Baltic revolution" was the obvious topic of conversations as the foyer of the Baltic Philharmonic featured a hundred or so of photographs presenting the ten-century history of development of the city and its port - the host of the 4th European Sea Day. As a welcome treat to the guests coming from all over Europe, the Promotion Section of the Port of Gdansk Authority SA organized a fascinating exhibition showing historical drawings and photographs that captured the imagination of the public. The works were extracted from the collections owned by the National Museum in Gdansk, the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Central Maritime Museum. The exhibition was further enriched by images from the port archives and from the private collection of Zbyszek and Maciej Kosycarz, and also by contemporary aerial photos taken from a hang-glider by Kacper Kowalski. Adding to the exhibition's attractive presentation were the captions annotated by the Gdansk history expert and author, Andrzej Januszajtis.

Looking at the history of the port of Gdansk, it came as no surprise that its record high throughput and the successive calls of "Maersk's" giant container ships raised great interest among the participants. Courtesy of s/y "Norda" (a former fishing cutter launched in 1928 in the Danish shipyard of Andersen Frederikssund, later converted into a sail boat), a group of journalists accredited for the European Sea Day were keen to take a short boat trip. The sightseeing of the historic port concluded with a visit to Gdansk's "youngest" port facility - DCT Gdansk container terminal, where the discharging operation of "Maersk Eubank" was coming to an end. The opportunity to take a look from the height of the giant ship's captain's bridge at the terminal and its amazing range of state-of-the-art machinery made a great impression even on those who can observe the port on a daily basis.

PGA SA PR Officer

P.S. The above-mentioned exhibition expanded by records and documentation presenting the construction of the "Northern Port" will be open to the public also in the Dolomite Hall of the Central Maritime Museum in Gdansk - possibly already from 20 June of this year.