b'8American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comEntrance to the Port of GdanskGdansk Ports third terminal is seen as a game changer for strengthening ports claim of being Baltics container hub New container terminal can receive mega-sized container ships.By Manik Mehta, AJOTBaltic Hub, formerly called DCTtobecompletedintwophases:the Gdansk,theoperatorofthelarg- T3 project will open for commercial est container terminal in the Port ofoperations on completion in first half Gdansk, is building a third deep-waterof 2024, becoming the Baltic regions Terminal (T3), aimed at strengtheninglargest container hub serving Central theportspositionasaBalticcon- andEasternEurope,andincreasing tainer hub.the handling capacity by 1.5 million Indeed, the Baltic Hub ContainerTEUs to 4.5 million TEUs a year. Terminal is Polands largest and fast- The second phase, expected to be estgrowingcontainerfacility,andcompletedinthesecondquarterof theonlydeep-waterterminalinthe2025, will concentrate on the construc-region,withoceanvesselsfromthetion of a 717 meter long, 17.5 meter Far East calling here.deepquaywall. AccordingtoBaltic The port operator says that whenHub sources, the T3 project includes the terminal is fully completed in thethepurchaseofsevenquaycranes second quarter of 2025, it will have atohandletheworldslargestships, 717-meter long and about 17.5 meterand also the 20 semi-automated Railcentury terminal, and the T3 develop- ized in servicing feeder ships; since deep quay wall, enhancing its capac- MountedGantrycranesforthecon- ment will bring the latest low-carbonJanuary 2010, container vessels with ity to handle the worlds largest con- tainer yard.Baltic Hub handles overtechnology which any European port8,000 TEU capacity from the Far East tainer vessels, and also adding some600 ships annually, including 100 ofwould be proud of, he pointed out.called at Gdansk every week.Direct 365,000 sq. m. of operating space. the worlds largest container ships. Baker notes that a significant changeconnections with Asia accelerated the Theimportanceoftheinvest- will be the deployment of semi-auto- development of the Deepwater Con-ment of Euro 450 million ($467 mil- e nvironmenTals Tandards maticgantrycranes,whichwillnottainerTerminal,oneofthefastest lion) in T3 project, was underscoredCharles Baker, Baltic Hubs CEO,have any operators but will be con- growingterminalsintheworld.In by Lukasz Greinke, the president ofrecently emphasized that Baltic Hubtrolled remotely from the companys2011,theterminalstartedservicing the Port of Gdansk, who described itand its partners would carry out theoffice building. containervesselswithacapacityof asanothermilestone.TheprojectT3 project with the highest environ- Theshippingworldhasshown15,500 TEU, and in 2013 vessels with will be carried out by a consortium ofmental standards right from the plan- interest in its container terminal.Ina capacity of 18,000 TEU belonging Budimex and DEME and is scheduledning stage. Baltic Hub is a true 21stits earlier years, the terminal special- to Maersk Line.Meanwhile,BalticHubisthe onlyfacilityintheBalticSeathat can handle container vessels carrying over 24,000 TEUs.It is expanding its connections with the Far East through MaerskLineandOceanAlliance, besides providing feeder connections with European destinations. g rainT rafficr ising aTp orT ofg danskMeanwhile,theportoperators, keen to expand their handling capac-ity for agricultural products, plan to increasethegrain-handlingcapac-ity to 3 million tonnes, up from this years forecast of 2.5 million tonnes. Besides handling coal and liquid fuels, the Port of Gdansk sees grain, including Polish and Ukrainian vari-eties,asaprioritycargogroup.In 2022 the port handled more than 1.9 million tonnes of grain.Since early 2023, operators have already handled customs brokers&freight forwarders over 764,000 tonnes of grain (meal, corn, wheat, rye, fava bean, rapeseed, www . jfmoran.com: 800.944.1041 oilseeds,etc.)shipped,mainly,to Denmark, the Netherlands, the U.K., (CLAIMcontinued on page 42)'