Ports in a storm of investment

The largest increase in cargo handled was seen in the port of Gdańsk (26.1 pct), followed by Gdynia (10.6 pct) and Szczecin (5.4 pct), but decreases were recorded in Police (-36.8 pct) and Świnoujście (-11.2 pct). Fossil fuels accounted for a large share of the trade with crude oil and oil products making up 33.6 pct of the liquid goods while coal and coke made up 14.6 pct of dry bulk shipments. In 2023, the domestic maritime traffic amounted to 3.5 mln tonnes (up by 31.4 pct on the previous year), constituting 2.6 pct of the total cargo traffic. International maritime traffic came in at 132.5 mln tonnes – 16.3 pct more than in 2022. In 2023, cargo traffic to or from European ports accounted for 63.5 pct of international cargo handled by Polish seaports, while Africa made up 16 pct, Asia 6.6 pct, North America 6.9 pct, Central and South America 6.1 pct, and Australia and Oceania 0.9 pct.

Building out at sea

This growth has been matched with the investment in ports themselves to improve capacity. According to GM Center, the investment in the Port of Gdańsk since 2022 totals more than USD 770 mln, including projects planned and those under construction. For the Port of Gdynia, this figure comes to over USD 815 mln, while for the Port of Szczecin-Świnoujście it is over USD 5.04 bln – although this latter astronomical figure also includes the development of yet another deep-water cargo terminal in Świnoujście. This development is planned in two stages, with the first designed to be able to handle 1 mln TEU per year [twenty-foot equivalent unit – the standard freight container size]. This stage of the project is scheduled for completion in 2028, but depending on the demand, the second stage could eventually double this capacity. The tender to operate and run the project has been awarded to a consortium of Qatar-based Qterminals from and Belgian company Deme Concessions, but both remain rather tight-lipped when it comes to discussing the details of the project. “It’s a bit too early to comment now. We have signed the preliminary lease agreement with the Port Authority of Szczecin-Świnoujście and are now looking forward to the completion of the environmental decision process. The design and construction of the marine infrastructure and terminal out-fittings should take 4-5 years,” reveals Frederic Dryhoel, the director of communications of Deme group. Recently, the project has been issued with a location decision by the Western Pomeranian authorities, but the project nonetheless faces stiff opposition from environmental groups, both in Poland and in Germany.

One company that is rather less reticent about its current port construction projects is Budimex. The company has already constructed a 36 ha artificial island to house the new Terminal 3 of the Baltic Hub Deepwater Terminal in the Port of Gdańsk. When it comes to the main challenges of the project, Budimex’s spokesman Michał Wrzosek states that it is “its scale and magnitude. The terminal is going to be huge. Standing on it, you won’t even be able to see the sea at all, because the facilities will obscure the horizon. For this EUR 470 mln investment, a deep-water quay with a length of 717m and a depth of 18m and a 36 ha square are to be built.” He also goes on to explain the current state of the work at the site: “At the moment, the stacks for the containers, the lighting for the new terminal and the track systems for cranes are being built. The concreting of the internal and external walls is also underway. Still to come are the access roads, a terminal surface, the crane installations and the finishing work. Eight quay cranes capable of loading and unloading the world’s largest ships and 28 semi-automatic RMG cranes are going to be purchased, which will be remotely controlled by operators from ergonomically designed stations. All this work will take another year,” he explains.

A diversified portfolio of projects

When it comes to current significant port infrastructure projects, Dorota Pyć, the president of the board of the Port of Gdańsk Authority, not only reveals that such investment is currently being made by the port’s operator Baltic Hub, but also points out that: “We are continuing work on the reconstruction of the quays in the Inner Port. Four quays are to be reconstructed: Rudowe, Bytomskie, Węglowe and Wiślane. We are also planning to build another parking area for trucks and cars in the outer port area. Around 180 drop-off points are to be created.” In her opinion, further investment in the Port of Gdańsk is essential because “the port plays an important role in ensuring national security. For this reason, it’s crucial that we improve the road and rail infrastructure. The construction of a second rail bridge, which will connect the deep-water section of the Port of Gdańsk with the mainland, is necessary as this part of the port is located on an island and at the moment can be only accessed by one bridge. We also aim to turn the Port of Gdańsk into an energy hub. Thanks to funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), an installation terminal for offshore wind farms (OWFs) is planned to be built in the port area. For over a decade, preparatory and design work has been underway in Poland to launch OWFs in the exclusive Polish economic zone. From a strategic perspective, it’s crucial that the installation infrastructure is built in the Port of Gdańsk, which, due to its depth, is best suited to serve such a use.” However, the facilities in Gdańsk are becoming crowded, so further development is likely to place out to sea. “We must focus our long-term plans in the direction of the sea. The land-based possibilities for the spatial development of the quay infrastructure along the coastline are slowly being exhausted, and investment in the reclamation of marine areas will be necessary. Their final shape and what terminals are actually built in the waters of Gdańsk Bay will ultimately be decided by the business that it can attract,” explains Dorota Pyć. Finally, she also mentions investment in fossil fuel transportation. “The Naftoport liquid fuel terminal is also being prepared for expansion. The construction of the W stand (for crude oil handling) together with the development of Silting Field No. 3 are at the design phase. An investment by Gaz System that involves the construction of an FSRU terminal is also being planned. A floating LNG re-gasification unit, of the FSRU type, will be located in the waters lying within the administrative boundaries of the port. This is a strategic investment from the point of view of national security, as it will contribute to the diversification of the natural gas supply sources in Poland,” insists Dorota Pyć.

Even more building out at sea

Not to be outdone, the Port of Gdynia has also announced a tender for the construction of an outer deep-water port in a public-private partnership project. An artificial peninsula is to be built with quays dredged to a depth of 17m designed to service ships of up to 400m in length. The new facilities are expected to handle up to 2.5 mln TEU (up to 25 mln tonnes) of cargo. The project is scheduled for completion in 2029. But this will not be the only work to be carried out at the port. At the end of 2023, the Port of Gdynia began the major reconstruction of the 800m Helskie Quay. The total cost of the work, which is to take 26 months, will come to almost PLN 300 mln. The project should significantly improve the operational capabilities of this section of the port.

According to Ewelina Synak-Miłosz, a project manager at Gdynia-based business management consultancy Actia Forum, this massive expansion of Polish ports is being driven by two factors: “The economic development of the country following its EU accession and the large number of investments undertaken in the last decade – both in the hinterland and in the seaports. These have contributed to a stable, gradual increase in yearly throughput, which is especially noticeable in the overall cargo volumes,” she explains. Indeed, much of this massive growth has been financed through the European Union. The Port of Gdańsk alone has received PLN 758.9 mln in EU funding since 2004. “With EU support, we have widened and deepened the fairway, rebuilt 5 km of quays and improved the navigation conditions in the inner port. As a result, larger ships can now enter this part of the port. In 2021, we completed the expansion and upgrading of the road and rail network in the inner port, which involved the creation of 7 km of roads, 10 km of rail track and four new viaducts. Together, these investments were 85 pct co-financed from the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility), while 20 pct of the funds received from the CEF were used for a project completed at the end of last year, which is in line with ZMPG’s long-term investment strategy for the development of the inner port – the expansion of the Przemysłowe Quay area. This project has definitely improved the transportation on the land side, streamlined the cargo handling, and will also enable the commercialisation of new investment areas. In 2023, we received almost EUR 100 mln in subsidies from the CEF 2 for the expansion of four more inner port quays with a combined length of almost 2 km together with the associated railway infrastructure. The planned period for these projects is 2023–2027,” says Dorota Pyć. However, Gdańsk is not the only port in Poland to have accessed such funds. The EU has also provided around EUR 84 mln for the modernisation of the facilities in the Port of Szczecin-Świnoujście.

The chaos of war

One ongoing event that has completely disrupted supply chains and increased the importance of energy supplies from Polish ports is the conflict in Ukraine. As Ewelina Synak-Miłosz of Actia Forum points out: “These days, economic relations are closely linked to international politics. The basic component of economic security is energy security. Securing supplies of strategic products such as coal and oil contributed to the record volumes in 2022 and 2023 for Polish ports. The war in Ukraine once again demonstrates the strategic importance of ports – the replacement of Russian cargoes resulted in increased purchases from overseas suppliers. Such rapid diversification of energy sources would not have been possible without the seaports. The new geopolitical situation has contributed to a surge in the handling of energy products to ensure Poland’s energy security. The largest increases in terms of volume are for fuels due to the impact of EU sanctions on Russian coal, crude oil and petroleum products imported by sea. By the end of 2024, a total ban on Russian LPG will come into force – and last year Russian gas accounted for almost half of Poland’s total supply. So, the increased overseas supply is contributing to the new investment – such as, in Gdańsk, the new reloading quay for oil products at Naftoport and an FSRU terminal for LNG imports. Increases have also been seen in cereal imports – with the new volumes mostly being the Ukrainian products that have transited through Polish ports due to the ongoing war. The blockade of seaports on the Black Sea has created a need to establish new export routes for Ukrainian grain. Therefore, some investment activities are necessary to enable the launch of grain terminals capable of effectively handling the increased volumes. The new agro terminal at OT Port Świnoujście is to open later this year, increasing the terminal’s capacity from 0.5 mln tonnes to 2 mln tonnes,” she points out.

Dorota Pyć also comments on the effects of the war in Ukraine. “The sanctions imposed on Russia and the blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea have resulted in the disruption of key supply chains. This has had a significant impact on the operations of the Port of Gdańsk. In 2022, we faced serious challenges resulting from the closure of Poland’s eastern border to supplies of energy raw materials, primarily coal. Since then, coal has been imported by sea. Before 2021, coal and crude oil accounted for 45 pct of our handling mix, whereas in 2023, it constituted over 63 pct. At the end of 2022, the volume of cargo handled was 68 mln tonnes. Coal imports surged by 207 pct compared to 2021, while liquid fuels rose by 35 pct. There were also notable increases in grain and ores. In 2023, we handled almost 81 mln tonnes of goods,” she reveals.

When asked how the port is set to grow by 2030, Dorota Pyć explains that “this depends on many factors, including the geopolitical situation and how key investments progress. Our goal is to surpass the 100 mln tonne barrier for goods handled and to become the number one port on the Baltic Sea in terms of overall cargo handling.” Currently, the number one port on the Baltic is Hamburg.