Int’l maritime conference in Poland’s Gdynia

Maritime security and freedom of navigation were among the main themes of the conference, which was organised by Polish MEP Anna Fotyga.

Public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency quoted Fotyga as saying that one of the central concerns is to "keep the main straits navigable."

"We are talking about bodies of water that should serve maritime trade," she said.

Poland has started work to build a strategic canal to the Baltic Sea to enable deep-draught vessels to enter its port of Elbląg without passing through the Strait of Baltiysk in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave.

Poland’s Maritime and Inland Navigation Minister Marek Gróbarczyk and James Henry Bergeron, political advisor to NATO's Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, UK, were among those attending the conference.

(jh/gs)

Source: IAR