Dominik Landa (DCT Gdańsk SA): “Port of Gdansk opens new routes to the CEE countries”

Ports need efficient transport and logistics interconnection with inland. Likewise, the Polish port of Gdansk as one of the major Baltic ports depends on the routes heading not only to Poland’s interior but also to other Central and Eastern European countries. This transport infrastructure has undergone a significant enhancement in the last years. In this context, we approached Dominik Landa, Commercial Director, DCT Gdańsk SA, with several questions.>

How does the port of Gdansk benefit from its location suitable for supplying goods to Central and Eastern Europe?

DCT Gdansk as a part of the port of Gdansk is located at the beginning of the Baltic-Adriatic Transport Corridor; this corridor is important both locally and internationally as it is the access route for containerised cargo for the Polish market and for example Czech and Slovak markets. Every month 160 thousand TEU is handled in DCT. Every year we see a double-digit growth in our terminal’s throughput which has an effect on larger demand for the high level of transport infrastructure in the hinterland. And the hinterland has in that ten years’ time grown from purely Poland to also the Czech Republic and Slovakia where effective railway transport is a must. Just in the middle of 2017 CSKD-Rail Cargo Operator has launched an intermodal connection from DCT Gdansk to AWT terminal in Paskov; nothing is a better motivation to further develop than the activity of our customers.

What does bring the ongoing modernization of the railway lines from Gdansk to the inland?

Starting from DCT itself we invest in our railway siding which currently has 4 tracks, each of them 618 metres long and until 2020 the terminal will have 6 tracks, each of them 750 metres long to make it a place perfectly suited for intermodal operators looking for time and cost-effective transport solutions. Going further into hinterland we are a big promoter of constant modernization of all the main lines of the Baltic-Adriatic corridor to a 750-metre standard; the same applies to stations, both in the port of Gdansk and in the Polish-Czech and Polish-Slovak borders. We are happy to see that it is also a priority for the Polish government and we believe that good access to multiple ports is something more than important for exporters and importers from CEE. Our analysis and our market research show that using the port of Gdansk for certain parts of CEE countries (not counting Poland to make the analysis fair) gives a benefit of 15% towards their usual logistics chains via ports of the North Sea or Adriatic.

Has the infrastructure development already changed the routes for the transport of goods?

Development of infrastructure gives a straight effect on cargo movement; just to say that three years ago, when the cargo train needed more than 12 hours to reach Warsaw from Gdansk, not a single container train was making that route. Now, when the container travels only 5-6 hours, trains leave every day or more. Logistics is a mix of cost, time and quality. Infrastructure is a major part of each of them. That’s why DCT’s volumes are booming, that’s why customers from CEE are heading Gdansk.

Pavel Toman