Poland’s rising trade draws more carriers to port

New Asia-Europe service calls at Gdansk are a reaction to Poland’s status as the fastest growth market for the trade, said Drewry Maritime Research in its latest Container Insight Report.

The G6 Alliance (APL, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, MOL, NYK and OOCL) has announced that it will start calls at Gdansk in Poland on its Asia-Europe Loop 7 service, with the first call scheduled to arrive at the Baltic Sea port on August 10.

The maritime analyst commented that Poland’s rising importance in the container market was tied to increased usage of DCT Gdansk, a terminal facility that started operations in mid-2007, initially only for feeder services.

The long-term plan was always to try and make Gdansk a viable alternative to German and Benelux ports as a gateway for not only Poland, but also Central Europe and other markets such as Russia and Ukraine. A large rail terminal was also a carrot for carriers that wanted to reduce their CO2 emissions by reducing the road transport miles across the continent.

Drewry said Poland would inevitably increase its share of the Asia-Europe container trade and attract more deep-sea services as its economy outpaced other European Union nations. New infrastructure improvements such as DCT Gdansk T2 will help the country become a major rival to German and Benelux ports as a transhipment hub for Central Europe and beyond.