Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki visited the shipyards of Remontowa Holding group
– The shipbuilding industry retains many unique competences, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said during a press conference on the Salish Heron ferry, built at the Remontowa Shipbuilding shipyard on Monday 22 bm.
The head of the Polish government arrived in Gdansk on Monday, 22 November. After visiting the 12th session of the Maritime Convention held at the Gdansk University of Technology, he visited the Polish shipbuilding group Remontowa Holding.
He first met with Remontowa Holding’s management and representatives of the NSZZ Solidarność , before visiting the ORP Albatros – the second in a series of three modern mine destroyers for the Polish Navy – and the LNG-powered hybrid ferry Salish Heron. Both vessels were built by Remontowa Shipbuilding. For the duration of the visit they were moored at the quay of the Remontowa Shiprepair Yard S.A.
On ORP Albatros the Prime Minister saw the hyperbaric chamber, the Combat Information Centre, the crew quarters and the bridge. After disembarking from the ship, Mateusz Morawiecki greeted and talked for a while with shipyard workers at Remontowa’s Front Quay.
On the ferry, he visited the car decks, passenger spaces, the Manoeuvring and Control Centre (the control centre for the ferry’s engine room and propulsion system) and the wheelhouse, which offered a view of the Remontowa Shiprepair Yard and the Port of Gdańsk.
Prime Minister Morawiecki was shown around both vessels by Adam Ruszkowski, President of Remontowa Holding SA and Marcin Ryngwelski, President of Remontowa Shipbuilding SA. On ORP Albatros, information about the vessel was also provided by Vice Admiral Jarosław Ziemiański, the Naval Inspector at the General Command of the Armed Forces.
A press conference for journalists was held on the ferry built for the Canadian shipowner BC Ferries.
– Just as man has been fighting the sea for centuries, our shipbuilding, shipping and port industry has been fighting for survival after 89 with the not always well thought-out transformation – said Morawiecki. – Shipyard workers, port workers from all along the coast know very well what value was lost then. Fortunately, there were people who believed in the maritime industry, and recent years have marked the path of dynamic development. (…) Many unique competences have been preserved in the shipbuilding industry. The added value, as economists say, i.e. the margin realised on the product, is high, and this means that Polish engineers and shipbuilders can earn more.
– I am pleased that we are building a wide range of different ships. What I heard today makes me optimistic that a ferry can be built faster where competences and skills are concentrated. Without prejudging anything, of course, I am sure that ferries can be built in Polish shipyards. Funding for these vessels has already been allocated,” Prime Minister Morawiecki added.
photos: Sławomir Lewandowski / PortalMorski.pl
