News / Poland unveils plan for €2.35m Cape Pomerania deepsea box facility

Poland’s government has outlined plans to construct a new 2m teu container terminal at Szczecin–Świnoujście, creating the country’s third deepwater port, after Gdansk and Gdynia.

Provisionally named Cape of Pomerania port, the decision to proceed was formally announced by deputy infrastructure minister Arkadiusz Marchewka at the facility yesterday, and follows the clearance of environmental objections and the exit from the project of Qatari terminal operator QTerminals and Belgian port construction outfit Deme Concessions.

In 2023, Deme and QTerminals signed an agreement with Polish authorities to develop a container terminal at the port, but this was terminated this year after one partner reportedly “failed to meet financing obligations”.

However, in his address yesterday, Mr Marchewka claimed that the former plan would not have enabled the terminal to accommodate the largest containerships and that “the entire investment would not pay for itself, even in 158 years”.

Under the new plans, the port authority of Szczecin–Świnoujście will be responsible for financing the infrastructure development, which is currently budgeted at €2.35bn, with initial works beginning next year.

With the port lying upriver, the project includes a 70km approach fairway. 500 metres wide, with a depth of 17 metres.

The terminals, of which container operations is one part, will require some 186ha of reclaimed land, while the box facility itself will be able to handle two 400-metre containerships and offer an annual capacity of 2m teu.

Other works include several kilometres of rail track for hinterland access and new energy infrastructure, and is currently scheduled to begin operations in 2029.

The port authority added that operation of the terminal would be by concession, with the operator responsible for equipping the facility.

According to the eeSea liner database, Szczecin currently hosts two liner services at its facilities, both operated by Unifeeder: SCAND11 service that deploys one 950 teu vessel and runs a Hamburg-Szczecin-Helsingborg-Szczecin rotation; and its UK2 service that operates one 1,000 teu ship on an Immingham-Hamburg-Szczecin rotation.