Container terminal in Świnoujście is in line with sustainable development vision
The concept of an external port complex consisting of deep-water container terminal, general purpose terminal and an existing gas port is a new vision of the sustainable development of Świnoujście, both in the economic, tourist and spa areas. Basing on this project, Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority aims at developing the area of socially responsible business.
It is difficult to compare ports in Shanghai, Singapore, Busan, Hong Kong, Baltimore, Rotterdam, Copenhagen or Sydney. Each of the Asian container mega ports handles more containers than all the Baltic ports together. However, regardless of the scale and geographical specificity, it can be understood that their growth is based on synergies and development activities in many areas.
Many of these ports create added value by taking advantage of the location and tourist value. Port of Ningbo, for example, is an important place for inland navigation – it uses a location in the Yangtze River Delta. And the largest South Korean port of Busan uses its tourist advantages. Operating on a completely different scale (around TEU 3 million per year), the Turkish port of Ambarli is using its commercial and cultural potential with access to the Marmara Sea, the Golden Horn or the Black Sea. Amsterdam successfully combines commercial and tourist functions. In the Baltic area, it is worth taking a look at Copenhagen. Danes very skillfully use coexistence of their largest port and beautiful city on many levels.
Sustainable, simultaneous development in many areas, which many modern economists perceive as a responsible form of business, addresses economic, environmental and social aspects, and can be seen as a common denominator of development for these different and specific ports of an often incomparable scale of activity.
In order to ensure multi-directional development, the Management Board of Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority, is preparing its vision of the future, which has completely changed the perception of the city. This is no longer a city seen through an internal bulk terminal and ferry base, or a gas port point of view.
- Our vision of Świnoujście includes re-modelling of the internal and external port – explains Krzysztof Urbaś, President of the Management Board of Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority. - In the external port we see at least three terminals: the current LNG terminal, container terminal, but also general purpose terminal (on the pier, east of the container terminal). That’s the general purpose terminal where we would like to transfer the activities of the current internal port.
This will free the spa area of the City of Świnoujście on the left bank of Świna River from all the nuisances caused by the inner port. In these areas, the Port Authority intends to create facilities supporting handling of containers, logistics centers, warehouse parks, areas dedicated for companies involved in the distribution of containers, in short: a clean, green port.
- We would like to create symbiosis with the city, sustainable development for the benefit of everybody – emphasizes Krzysztof Urbaś. - That is possible. An example would be city of Gdynia, where new housing districts are built in the immediate vicinity of the port, around bulk terminal. And there are people willing to buy these houses and live there.
The use of many different modes of transport is also part of that sustainability. The developed multimodality of transport corridors: expressways, rail connections and inland waterway transport possibility, ensures that the hinterland connections are adequately deployed. Intermodal transport, on the other hand, allows goods to be transported in a way that limits the environmental impact to minimum.
All these goals can be achieved through the investments that have just been started: the construction of the last sections of the S3 expressway connecting Świnoujście with the Czech Republic and then Central Europe, modernization of the railway network in both ports’ and the railway line CE-59 (so-called “Nadodrzanka”), dredging the water way Świnoujście-Szczecin to 12.5 m, modernization of the port quays to new parameters, and in the long term upgrading navigability of the Oder River with the construction of a canal connecting with the Danube.
Proceedings are ongoing to choose the investor and the subsequent operator of the deep-water container terminal. Interested parties may submit their offers until April 15th 2021.