DCT Gdańsk wins concession for new Gdańsk container terminal

DCT Gdańsk and the Port of Gdańsk enter a new era of container handling on the Baltic Sea

DCT Gdańsk wins concession for new Gdańsk container terminal
Photo: DCT Gdańsk

On September 18, 2020, the Port of Gdańsk Authority launched a tender procedure to select the lessees for a new port area that will be created within the boundaries of the Port in the Gdańsk Bay. On July 23, 2021, the tender committee officially announced the lease had been awarded to DCT Gdańsk S.A.

DCT Gdańsk is the largest container terminal on the Baltic Sea. Since the start of its operations in 2007, two deep-water quays (T1 and T2 – launched in 2007 and 2016 respectively) have been built with a total capacity of 3 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).

With the construction of the new terminal, known as “Baltic Hub 3”, a third deep-water quay located at the new port area will be created, increasing the handling capacity of DCT Gdańsk by 1.5 million TEUs, to 4.5 million TEUs. The investment is worth Euro 450 million, and the third deep-water quay will be 717-metre-long with a depth of 18.0m and 36 hectares of yard will be built.

The Baltic Hub 3 project also involves the purchase of 7 quay cranes that are able to handle the world’s largest vessels, and 20 semi-automated Rail Mounted Gantry cranes for the container yard, which will be remotely operated by operators located in ergonomically-designed workspaces. This will allow for a safer, efficient, modern and more comfortable working environment 365 days of the year.

The construction is planned to start in 2Q2022 and Baltic Hub 3 is scheduled to be operational by mid-2024.

When completed, DCT Gdańsk will be among the largest container terminals in Europe in terms of handling capacity and be able to continue serving and supporting the fast-growing Polish economy, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) and the Baltic countries.

Marek Gróbarczyk, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, says:

“Thanks to the expansion of the DCT terminal, the Port of Gdansk will maintain its leading position among the ports in the Baltic Sea. Investments such as Baltic Hub 3 strengthen the position of the Polish economy. The third deep-water quay will be 717-metre-long with a depth of 18.0m and 36 hectares of yard will be built, able to handle an additional 1.5 million TEU per year. The investment is worth approximately 2 billion PLN.”

Łukasz Greinke, President of the Port of Gdańsk, says:

“The offer, followed by the choice of such a conscious investor as DCT from the PSA group, i.e., one of the world’s largest container terminal operators, proves the enormous potential of the Port of Gdańsk and the Polish economy. This is the result of nearly two years of intense teamwork, which in the first place worked on amendments to the Act on Sea Ports and Harbors, so that it would be possible to lease land that will only be created as a result of loading, then on changing the Company’s statute, and finally on developing a very complicated, transparent procedure. It worked, and thanks to such investments, the Port of Gdańsk will get to the top league of European ports.” 

Charles Baker says:

“With the construction of Baltic Hub Terminal 3, Poland can continue to compete with western European ports such as Hamburg and Rotterdam. Adding a third quay will allow the terminal to serve not only the Polish market, but also the entire Baltic region and Poland’s land-locked neighbours. Historically, when we talked about major ports in North Range, it was always Hamburg – Le Havre Range. DCT Gdańsk, growing rapidly, has extended that range to Gdańsk, Poland, and the Baltic.”

As Maersk’s East Europe Managing Director Zsolt Katona pointed out, Gdańsk is an important part of Maersk’s network with clear value proposition to the growing market of CEE and Russia.

Zsolt Katona concludes:

“In January 2010, Maersk and DCT started the revolutionary direct service connecting the Far East and Gdańsk. Since then, we have witnessed the strong growth of the terminal, and today DCT has become Maersk’s partner in creating E2E solutions to the customers. With BH3, we are very happy to see DCT continuing to invest in future capabilities and actively addressing the supplier chain bottlenecks.”