DCT Gdansk Starts Work on Second Berth

Construction of the second berth at the Polish Port of Gdansk’s Deepwater Container Terminal (DCT) was officially kicked off on Friday, May 15.

The new terminal berth will be ready for operations in the third quarter of 2016. It will be equipped with 5 STS cranes, delivered by Liebherr Container Cranes Ltd., 16 RTG cranes and additional yard equipment. The new 650m long berth will increase the DCT’s annual handling capacity by up to 3 million TEUs in the first stage of the construction.

”DCT, with two deep-water terminals, capable of handling 3 million TEU annually, is a trigger for the external trade development not only in Poland but also in the whole region of Central Eastern Europe. This reflects the growing potential of Polish importers and exporters, who are more competitive now, when they benefit from direct vessel calls from the Far East to the Baltic,” said Janusz Piechocinski, Deputy Prime Minister of Poland.

Back in October 2014, DCT Gdansk chose the Belgian N.V. BESIX to be the general contractor and the designer of the new facility. By early November 2014, DCT Gdansk finalized the financing process for the construction of the 650m deepwater berth with a group of commercial and development banks which provided EUR 290 million (USD 332m) for the project.

DCT Gdansk became operational on June 1, 2007 with the arrival of the first commercial container ship. Phase one of the terminal construction was completed in October 2007. In 2014 the terminal handled 1,188,380 TEUs.