Is DCT Gdansk the new hub for the Baltic Sea region?

On January 4 2010, DCT Gdansk received the largest container vessel ever to call at Poland when the 8,200 teu Maersk Taikung (length 332 m; beam 43.2 m; draft 14.5 m) arrived from the Far East. From January 2010, Maersk post-Panamax ships sailing on Maersk Line’s AE10 service from China will call at DCT Gdansk every Monday with Polish, Russian and Finnish cargo.

According to the company this marks the beginning of a new era in container shipping linking directly Poland to Asia, and the development of DCT Gdansk as a hub in the Baltic Sea with Russian and Finnish cargo to be transhipped to feeders from DCT Gdansk to their final destinations.

DCT Gdansk’s CEO, Boris Wenzel said, “We (are in) on-going talks with other carriers interested in making regular calls at DCT Gdansk. And with h the AE10 contract signed, we immediately ordered two new RTG cranes which will be commissioned at the end of February and we will continue to evaluate options for additional equipment purchases.

“DCT sits in a perfect location, with a 17 m deep approach channel and 16.5 m along the berth. As Maersk Taikung demonstrated, ice-class vessels are not required for calls at DCT Gdansk, even during harsh winter conditions. Carriers can bring their Russian and Finnish containers to DCT and feed deeper into the Baltic using smaller feeder vessels, which are readily available.”

The Maersk call has already initiated two new feeder services from Gdansk to St. Petersburg and to the Finnish ports of Kotka and Helsinki.

Source: Port News