A record year for Port of Gdynia in terms of transshipments of key importance for the economy and national defence

The Port of Gdynia is fulfilling its role as a dual-purpose port. Another transshipment of US Army military equipment – the largest ever – is currently underway at the BCT terminal this year.

Since the afternoon of 29 August, a large ro-ro vessel (IMO No. 9121273; US flag state; year of construction 1996; GT 72 708; deadweight 48,988 t) used to carry US army equipment has been at the Baltic Container Terminal (BCT) and is likely to remain there until Tuesday, 5 August, PortalMorski.pl has established.

“At such an important moment for the Port of Gdynia, when another record of transshipments is being broken, thanks to the investments being made, we have greater capacity and have already been able to serve the US troops as part of our ongoing cooperation without compromising other groups of cargo handled at the port. We are delighted with this long-standing cooperation and are already working on further projects in the Port of Gdynia so that this long-term cooperation will continue in the years to come,” – says Aleksander Wicka, head of the Marketing Department at the Port of Gdynia Authority.

It is worth emphasizing that all transshipment operations are carried out through very experienced entities that have been carrying out this process for many years. Importantly, it is carried out on the basis of the state-of-the-art infrastructure of the Logistics Centre in the western part of the Port of Gdynia.

The maneuvering and storage yards that have been built are of a universal nature, and their close location to the terminals makes them an ideal place to concentrate cargo shortly before the transshipment operation. This record-breaking investment has already played a huge part in the challenge of increased transhipments of coal or grain, as well as military equipment. The Port of Gdynia plans and carries out further important investments in such a way as not to disrupt the continuity of transshipments, bearing in mind that this has a huge impact on the development of economic cooperation and the security of Poland and the Central European region.

It is also worth emphasizing that all new investments implemented in the Port of Gdynia take into account the necessity of their possible use for the transshipment of military equipment and soldiers of allied armies. This includes the Outer Port project, which will not only have huge storage yards but also specialized ro-ro ramps enabling the transshipment of even the heaviest vehicles and specialized military equipment.

In July 2022, a framework agreement was concluded with Hyundai Rot for the procurement of a total of 1,000 K2 tanks and their polonised development version, and on 6 December 2022, the unloading of the first K2 tanks and K9 cannon howitzers for Poland was completed at the Port of Gdynia terminal.

“In the spring of this year, we adopted a new law on the defence of the homeland. This summer, in August, we signed the necessary contracts. And at the moment, the process of modernisation and strengthening of the Polish army is already physically taking place through not only the purchase, but above all the delivery from South Korea of K2 tanks and K9 armato howitzers for the Polish army. No one needs to be told or explained how important this process is, how crucial this pace of deliveries is, especially in the current situation where we are facing a war in Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression. Today is the first stage – not symbolic, but very practical. You see, these are K2 tanks from South Korea – the first 10 tanks have just arrived in our country, here in Gdynia. In a moment they will go to military units, where they will undergo the final process of preparation and implementation for their possible use in our armed forces. In front of and behind you is the first delivery of K9 howitzers, which will soon supply the Polish army, the first 24 of which arrived today. But apart from this very practical dimension of supplying the Polish army directly with this equipment, there is also a huge symbolic dimension: the beginning of cooperation, which – I hope – will be industrially, economically and in terms of security fruitful in the future both for Poland and for South Korea. I am glad that, thanks to the start of this very supply programme, in the future we will jointly produce tanks and we will jointly service and perhaps also produce aircraft,” – President Andrzej Duda said at the Port of Gdynia terminal in 2022, during the ceremony for the official handover of K2 tanks and K9 howitzers.

“At the Port of Gdynia, we are prepared for further operations of this type planned for this year. We can currently confirm that a record year of transshipments of key importance for the economy and national defence lies ahead of us,” – comments Aleksander Wicka from the Port of Gdynia.

Source: PortalMorski.pl