Terminal operator PSA International, a co-owner of Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT) Gdansk, has unveiled an ambition to increase the TEU capacity at the Polish terminal to 7 million a year eventually from 2.2 million in 2018.
During a recent visit of a maritime and business delegation from Poland to Singapore, Laurent Spiessens, DCT Gdansk deputy CEO, said at a conference that PSA International has “major ambitions” for Poland, positioning Gdansk as the “gateway to the Baltic” .
Ealier this year, Singapore’s PSA, together with the Polish Development Fund (PFR) and the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund (GIF) completed the acquisition of DCT Gdansk.
“Gdansk’s unique location makes it the ideal gateway port to Central Eastern Europe and transhipment hub for the Baltic. This is why it is the fastest growing port in Europe,” he explained.
“We are determined to drive growth further and we have already invested in new cranes and infrastructure that has helped increase TEU capacity from 2.2 million (m) in 2018 to an estimated 2.8m in 2019. We can continue to grow and increase this capacity to 3m TEU by 2020 and eventually 7m TEU.”
He added that key to these plans will be a EUR 20 million (USD 22.1 million) investment in the rail network and equipment including increasing the port’s railway tracks from four to seven.
Meanwhile, Marcin Osowski, the Port of Gdansk Authority vice-president for infrastructure, outlined plans to build a new EUR 2.8 billion Euro Central Port as “the biggest maritime investment project in Europe” , which will complement DCT Gdansk’s operations.
“The Port of Gdansk grew by 20pc in 2018 and 9pc already this year and we are on target to exceed 50m tonnes of cargo for the first time, up from 40m in 2017, ” he noted.
“But our ultimate ambition is to grow cargo to 100m tonnes. Critical to that is our current infrastructure investment programme of EUR 591m and our plans for the new Central Port.”