The most important one is the promise of signing a letter of intent by a consortium of companies, including Gryfia shipyard and Szczecin Industrial Park, regarding construction of ferries for Polish Baltic Shipping Company PŻB. Andrzej Strzeboński, chairman of Szczecin Industrial Park has confirmed his company’s readiness to deliver on their promises. Poland Development Fund is the party representing the state in the transaction.

 

This is where the government’s involvement ends. We’ve laid the foundations and the rest is in the hands of business, Minister of Maritime Economy Marek Gróbarczyk told the participants of the Congress. Prime Minister Beata Szydło in her speech at the Congress emphasised the government’s determination to revive the Polish shipbuilding industry.

 

This gives a degree of hope to supply chain businesses and co-operators in the shipbuilding industry as they will be able to benefit from the provisions of the new shipyard law which is set to come into effect from next year.

 

The Minister of the Infrastructure and Construction Andrzej Adamczyk admitted at the Congress that Polish sea ports could not be used to their full potential unless construction and development of all major communication routes – roads, railways and river routes – was completed. For Szczecin and Gdańsk, the minister's words were a promise of completion of the S3 expressway and A1 motorway, respectively (both will link with Czech motorways). Deputy Minister from the Ministry of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation Jerzy Materna stressed the importance of bringing inland navigability of the Oder River to Inland Waterways Class IV, while the undersecretary from the Ministry of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation Krzysztof Kozłowski named development of Polish sea ports as one of the Ministry’s priorities.

 

The event was also a good opportunity for a debate about the Baltic ferry shipping policy. The Chairman of Unity Line Jarosław Kotarski stressed the importance of collaboration among competitors, which could involve at least notifying one another about delays in ports. Participants also confirmed that the Baltic ferry fleet needed to be renewed.

 

As a consequence, ferry terminals will have to be adapted to meet the operators’ requirements. Representatives of the sea ports in Świnoujście and Trelleborg also revealed their plans for expansion of their wharfs.

 

The organisers summed up the event as follows: We shall have to wait for the effects of the Congress. We haven’t managed to cover all the issues, but that’s for the better – we shall have topics for discussion at the Conference next year, summarised the event Dariusz Słaboszewski, chairman of Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority. We have a whole year for meetings and discussions about the issues raised, added Paweł Szynkaruk, CEO of PŻM.

 

The Maritime Congress was held from June 8 to June 10. Sessions were divided into five blocks: Shipyards, Shipping and Ports; Security and International Cooperation; Fisheries and Aquaculture; Law, Finance and Ecology; and Offshore Energy and Deep Sea Mining. Over 1000 people representing over 300 companies and institutions took part in the debates. The originators of the Congress are PŻM and North Chamber of Commerce; the event organiser is the Foundation of the Maritime Congress.

 

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