Green light for Gdansk container terminal construction
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
16.09.2014 09:15
Construction of a second container terminal for the Gdansk Port will begin this year, with the terminal expected to be open by mid-2016.
Gdansk container terminal. Photo courtesy: KacperKowalski.pl / www.portgdansk.pl
Gdansk Port is already the largest port in Poland, handling a record 30 million tons of cargo in 2013.
DCT Gdansk, the Port’s operator, plans to invest around 1.2 billion zloty (300 million euros) in the project. The terminal will increase the Port’s overall capacity from the current 1.25 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) to 3.5 million TEU, and will cover almost 30 hectares of land.
One of the companies already using Gdansk Port and planning to expand operations once the new terminal opens is Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company. It has used Gdansk since 2007, including a visit from its 400-metre Triple E ships.
The managing director of Maersk Central Europe, Ingrid Uppelschoten-Snelderwaard, commented “we intend to keep a strong presence in Gdansk. The current terminal has exhausted its capacity. The construction of T2 is good news for us, because the restrictions on services we offer to customers will disappear”.
The shipping sector is currently facing challenges such as wavering global demand for container transport and the new EU Sulphur Directive from January 2015, which will increase transport costs.
However, Uppelschoten-Snelderwaard explained that “the Polish economy is growing faster than other parts of Europe, and the potential for container transport is still not fully exploited. That is why we are betting on an increase in the demand for shipping services in this region.”
Maersk is not expected to be the only large shipping company using the terminal. Maciek Kwiatkowski, managing director of DCT Gdansk, declared that “the largest shipping groups are showing interest in transporting containers through Gdansk. We are working hard on finding new large customers”.
The shipping alliances Ocean Three and G6, as well as the MSC company which currently uses Gdynia, are among potential future users of the Gdansk port. (sl/jb)
Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna