Study Visit to the Port Elbląg and Vistula Spit

The INCONE60 partners met in Elbląg on 9th December 2021. This study visit was organized within the INCOnet Business Network.

Its purpose was to examine the current state of the port infrastructure. We were also looking for opportunities for economic cooperation between the ports of Vordingborg and Elbląg. As a result, we have defined the types of cargo that will be transported between these ports. This information will be used to create an economic agreement. Cooperation under the agreement will be possible when the channel through the Vistula Spit is completed. Participants also visited the channel's construction works to see the progress and determine its parameters and the types of cargo ships that will be able to cross it.

The construction of the channel through the Vistula Spit will open the Vistula Lagoon to the Baltic Sea. This will shorten the distance to the road through the Piławska Strait by about 90 km (52 mm), which, given the current pressure to reduce emissions of harmful substances by ships, fits perfectly into the sustainable transport system development policy environmental protection. Furthermore, it is also essential to shorten the time factor of cargo transportation, which is important in creating modern transport and logistics chains. (Interreg South Baltic Transport Loops Project).

After completing construction works and the deepening of the waterway from the Vistula Spit to the Port of Elbląg, Port Elbląg will become an important player on the market and will be fully prepared to work in the Baltic-North Sea relationship. In 2006, two new cargo and passenger terminals were built. In addition, a universal cargo terminal was built on the left bank of the river.

The reloading capacity of the terminal is estimated at 0.5 - 1 million tonnes/year (bulk cargo) and 0.1 thousand tons of general cargo. The terminal can handle ships with a capacity of 800 - 1200 tons with a draft of 2.2 m and allows the use of all possible reloading technologies. On the right bank of the river, a modern passenger terminal was built along with the infrastructure of the sea border crossing that meets the requirements of the Schengen Convention. It has a 200 m long and 3.5 m deep quay and a bridgehead for ferries. Currently, transhipments at the Port of Elbląg are mainly related to the transport of hydro technical stone to the new Estonian Island (an artificial island in the Vistula Lagoon created in connection with the ditch of the Vistula Spit; it will be a habitat for birds and vegetation and compensate for environmental losses), as well as trade with ports Kaliningrad District). In 2021, Port Elbląg acquired a new quay with a length of approximately 160 m with access to a railway siding. The total capacity of the existing active quays can be estimated at 1.5-2 million tons of cargo and 100-150 thousand passengers, assuming the current average periods of stoppage in the winter season.