On 28 November 2022, Baltic Hub (formerly known as DCT Gdańsk), the operator of the largest container terminal in the Baltic Sea, kicked off construction of its third deep-water Terminal – T3, according to the company's release.
When fully completed in the second quarter of 2025, the new terminal will have a 717-meter-long and 17.5 meter deep quay wall.
This will be Baltic Hub’s third deepsea berth that can handle the largest container vessels in the world. The new terminal will also provide 36.5 hectares of additional operating space. In total, the investment is worth 450 million EUR. The T3 project, which will be open for commercial operations after the first phase is completed in the first half of 2024, is testament to Baltic Hub ambition to develop the largest container hub to serve Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Baltics and become one of the largest container terminal hubs in Europe.
The construction of the T3 project will be executed in two phases. In a first phase, the consortium of the companies Budimex and DEME will build the 36 hectare terminal area next to Terminal 1. This new terminal area, which will be completed by the first half of 2024, will be entirely reclaimed from the sea. It will increase the handling capacity of Baltic Hub by 1.5 million TEUs (20-foot containers) to 4.5 million TEUs per year. In the second phase construction of the 717-meter-long, 17.5 meter deep quay wall will commence. This is scheduled to start in early 2023 and completed in the second quarter of 2025.
The T3 project also involves the purchase of seven quay cranes that are capable of handling the world’s largest vessels, as well as 20 semi-automated Rail Mounted Gantry (RMG) cranes for the container yard, which operators will be able to control remotely from ergonomically-designed workspaces. This will allow for a safer, efficient, modern and more comfortable working environment 365 days of the year.
Baltic Hub is Poland’s largest container terminal and has experienced exponential growth from having just one deep-water quay and a capacity of 500,000 TEUs when it was founded 15 years ago, to becoming a true ‘Baltic Hub’ with two deepsea quays that handled more than 2.09 million TEUs in 2021 with a total annual capacity of up to 3 million TEUs. At this time, Baltic Hub has 1,300 meters of quay, 14 Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes and an annual capacity of 2.7 MTEUs.
In addition, Baltic Hub has become a transport gateway to Central and Eastern Europe, with inland destinations such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Germany. This is a result of continuous investments over the years, that elevated its rail capacity to 750,000 TEUs in 2020.
The commencement of construction works at the new T3 Baltic Hub terminal completes the stage of work on executive designs and preparation of the construction site. These activities have been carried out as part of the so-called “early start” since the Budimex – Deme consortium signed the contract in July 2022. Now the consortium is starting works on the construction of a new terminal. The dredging of the sea route to the new terminal and the reclamation works under its basic structure begins. These works will be carried out, among others, by a special dredging ship and using the appropriate material from the bottom of the sea to construct a platform that will form the base of the new terminal. In addition, the consortium begins to build tight walls around the future terminal.