The Gdansk Central Port’s eventual conception has been presented

Two container terminals, an offshore terminal, an LNG terminal, space for a shipyard and passenger ships – these are just some of the elements of the Central Port to be built at the Port of Gdansk. The Port Authority presented the concept of one of the largest and most modern seaport investments in Europe.

“100 million tonnes of transshipped goods at Polish ports means this is the right time to carry out our plans. Today, the Port of Gdansk is starting the process. I hope that the Central Port will set a new direction of development. The investment is the proper construction of a new port. The entire investment process for the Central Port has to be carried out with due diligence. The adoption of a special act on ports is so important to our government precisely because it will expedite the execution of strategic investments,” says Marek Grobarczyk, Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation.

“Today, it is the transport routes that determine our competitiveness. The infrastructure that we have is sufficient for now, but the role and significance of the Port of Gdansk as the most important logistics hub in Eastern Europe makes it necessary for us to think about the next dozen years or so and prepare a modern and efficient deepwater space with a carefully designed, innovative base,” says Lukasz Greinke, President of the PGA.

The preparation of the concept was the responsibility of a consortium comprised of the Projmors Biuro Projektow Budownictwa Morskiego and Mosty Gdansk companies. The contractors have been working for almost a year, during which time they prepared six preliminary concepts of the Central Port. Ultimately, one of them was selected.
The Central Port will include a basin covering about 1,400 ha and a reclaimed area covering 410 ha. The project involves the construction of nine terminals. Four turning areas and three approach fairways will also be built.

“We intend to build 19 km of operational quays and 8.5 km of breakwaters. We have planned a three-stage construction of the Central Port. Which terminals will be completed first – this will be determined by the market. Members of the Board and the Commercial Department have been holding talks with potential operators of individual terminals for quite a long time. Now that we have the concept, these activities will become even more intensive,” explains Marcin Osowski, Vice-President of the Board and Director of Infrastructure at the Port of Gdansk Authority.

Work on the execution of the project is scheduled to begin already this year. In order to complete the construction of the individual stages, archaeological work, an environmental survey, and construction designs are needed, among others.

“About 60 different specialists and 10 companies, including two scientific and research institutes, have worked on the project. Previously, any seaport investments of this type, such as the gas port in Swinoujscie or the DCT terminal, had a specific investor and purpose. Here, we had to specify everything based on in-depth analyses and forecasts covering the next several dozen years,” clarifies Krzysztof Postola, Chief Designer at Projmors.

The construction of the Central Port in its intended final form presented in the concept will cost about PLN 12 billion, including expenditures on the part of the maritime administration – on the construction of new breakwaters, turning areas, and approach fairways. The Port Authority intends to carry out the investment as a public-private partnership. The first terminals may be ready as soon as 2029.

Photo courtesy: http://www.portgdansk.pl