The ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście sum up 2024
The development of the Off-shore Wind sector, investments in Szczecin and Świnoujście, EU grants, changes, opening up to the prospect of green development – this is our year 2024 in a nutshell.
We ended 2024 with a solid result of transshipments of 32,305.8 million tons. This is 8.5% less than a year ago, but we perceive the result positively.
– We look at this result with optimism, because in the second half of last year we managed to overcome the downward trend that has been ongoing since the end of 2022 – says Jarosław Siergiej, President of the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority S.A.
The last quarter of 2022, the whole of 2023 and the first half of 2024 were characterized by declines in transshipments resulting from the end of coal imports from almost the entire world, in connection with the embargo on supplies of this raw material from Russia. In 2023, the transit of Ukrainian goods to Polish seaports also ceased.
Ultimately, the downward trends were stopped in the middle of last year, to significantly improve the results.
In addition to increasingly optimistic results, the Port is constantly changing to keep up with the changing market and meet new requirements.
“Off-shore Valley”
The Off-shore Wind sector is developing in West Pomerania – a lot is happening in this area not only in the region (Vestas investments, development of education profiled in this direction, etc.), but also in our Port. On January 16, we signed an agreement with the Spanish company Windar – the investor will build a factory of offshore wind farm construction elements, such as towers, masts, wind turbine foundations, in Ostrów Grabowski.
At the end of the year, we also completed the first stage of an important project carried out in Świnoujście: “Construction of the transshipment capacity of the sea port in Świnoujście to serve the needs of offshore wind energy” – as part of the project, three new quays were built, for which on December 24, 2024 we obtained a use permit with a finality clause. The first two are almost half a kilometer of quays ready for use, while the third was prepared as a starting point for stage 2 of the investment. Already in January, as was the case earlier for stage 1, we are submitting an application for funding under the CEF2 program for the continuation of the project, which, through the construction of two more heavy quays with a ro-ro ramp, will enable the simultaneous and collision-free implementation of two offshore wind farm projects at sea at the same time. Thanks to the created port infrastructure, the energy transformation of Poland and other EU member states from the Baltic Sea region will be accelerated.
In addition, in February last year, the Szczecin and Świnoujście Ports Authority S.A. has joined the prestigious Offshore Wind Port Alliance, which consists of ports from Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France and Germany, and from 2 February – also the Ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście. The Alliance aims to optimise the use of offshore wind energy in order to achieve Europe’s very ambitious goals in this area. In January, our representatives will take part in a meeting of the Alliance members in London.
– Our region is currently becoming the seed of the future “Off-shore Valley” – says Rafał Zahorski, ZMPSiŚ representative for port development.
Deepwater Container Terminal in Świnoujście
The flagship investment of ZMPSiŚ S.A. – in Świnoujście, to the east of the LNG terminal, the most modern container terminal on the Baltic Sea will be built. The year 2024 was marked by concluding agreements, obtaining the required documents and the broadly understood preparation of this investment, which is strategic for the region and Poland. The project entitled Construction of sea and land access to the deep-water container terminal in the outer port in Świnoujście On April 17, a location decision for the investment was issued by the West Pomeranian Voivode. In January 2025, we expect an environmental decision, which is in the appeal procedure.
Regardless of the official decisions, the management board has initiated a dialogue with the local community of Świnoujście: meetings were held with residents and councilors of the city and the Warszów district, where the investment is to be built. As part of the preparatory work, which is still ongoing, since September, work has been carried out on magnetic scans of the areas for the construction of the terminal: the seabed in the area of the outer port, the area for the construction of the breakwater and turntable, as well as the area on the land side – the area of the access road, railway and parking lot.
12.5 m – Szczecin open to the largest ships
Last year, we continued long-term projects in the Szczecin Port:
Improvement of access to the Port in the Kashubian Basin area and Improvement of access to the Port in the Dębicki Canal area. The projects are co-financed by the European Union from the Cohesion Fund under the Infrastructure and Environment operational programme and will be completed in mid-2025. They serve to adapt the port area to a technical depth of 12.5 m – this, together with the deepened waterway from Świnoujście to Szczecin means that the Port of Szczecin can handle the largest ocean-going vessels; we will be “PANAMAX READY”.
This year, modernized quays have already started operating, e.g. the Dąbrowieckie Quay, with modern infrastructure for safe handling of sulfuric acid transshipments (Kaszubski Basin) and newly built quays, including the Norwegian Quay, located in the Dębicki Canal basin. Thanks to this investment, the aforementioned Windar factory can be built on the Ostrów Grabowski peninsula, and it was also possible to sign a lease agreement for a plot of land at the Norwegian Quay with the Tri-City consortium TRIDENTE in December. A universal transshipment terminal and a modern cement plant based on the latest technologies and ecological solutions will be built there.
Expansion of the LNG terminal in Świnoujście
The expansion of the LNG terminal in Świnoujście, which has been ongoing for several years, had its happy ending last year. February 29 – the Certificate of Takeover was issued for the investment carried out by ZMPSiŚ S.A. – a new station was created with the functions of unloading and loading liquefied gas in the external port in Świnoujście. The works carried out by the terminal operator, GAZ-SYSTEM, were completed in November, thanks to which the first gas tanker docked at the new station at the end of November. Thanks to this investment, Poland gained the ability not only to receive, but also to export liquefied gas, which significantly increases the competitiveness of the terminal and strengthens Poland’s international position, as well as to refuel bunkers supplying LNG-powered ships with fuel.
Ferry Świnoujście
Works on the adaptation of the infrastructure of the Ferry Terminal in Świnoujście to handle intermodal transport have been completed. Thanks to the investment, it is possible to handle ferries up to 270 m long and reload intermodal units, the quays have been modernized and significantly extended, the necessary technical infrastructure, maneuvering areas and appropriate road and rail access have been created. The project was implemented as part of the CEF 2014-2020 instrument and thanks to it, wagons returned to the Baltic Sea after a years-long break.
The first – pilot – transshipment of intermodal semi-trailers took place at the Ferry Terminal in Świnoujście on December 8, and Freightliner PL was responsible for it.
In addition, on April 10, a new ferry connection from Świnoujście to Sweden was launched – Finnlines runs to Malmo. In the summer, we welcomed a new PŻB ferry on the line: Varsovia.
New grants and subsidies
On May 8, we signed an agreement to subsidize the project entitled “Construction of a multimodal rail transshipment hub on the Ostrów Grabowski Peninsula in the Port of Szczecin”. This is a pioneering undertaking that will have a “dual use” character – civilian and military purposes. Project implemented as part of funding from the CEF2 Military Mobility instrument for the years 2021-2027
On October 9, a grant agreement was signed to co-finance the project “Development of port infrastructure for the collection of waste from ships in the Świnoujście seaport”. The project will improve the accessibility and increase the safety of waste collection from ships in the Świnoujście port. – This is an investment in the development of sustainable and intelligent port infrastructure – emphasized President Jarosław Siergiej, receiving the grant from representatives of the European Commission. A modern waste collection point also protects the marine environment from the negative effects of waste discharge by ships into sea waters. The project received support under the CEF Instrument for the years 2021-2027.
On October 25, we received confirmation of the grant award under the Interreg South Baltic program for a research project on the decarbonization of the maritime sector and its impact on the transformation towards green energy. The awarded grant will enable the development of study documentation in 2025 and 2026 that is important for the further development of the port, covering the transformation of the main areas of the port’s activity into low and zero-emission.
The above summary includes only a sample of the Ports’ activities, focusing only on the most important events and the year 2024. For more information, please visit our social media profiles, where we keep you updated on our daily, continuous work. The port never sleeps. We wish ourselves an active 2025.