On Friday, October 9, 2020, the Port of Szczecin and Świnoujście inaugurated the project entitled: “Improvement of access to the Port in Szczecin in the region of the Kaszuby Basin” during a contract signing ceremony with DORACO Construction Corporation [Korporacja Budowlana DORACO.].
DORACO will complete a series of works thanks to which the Port of Szczecin will be adapted to the admittance and efficient handling of vessels with larger draught and greater load capacity. The port’s water areas will reach a depth of 12.5 meters, i.e., the same as the Świnoujście-Szczecin fairway.
“ At present, in the complex of the Szczecin-Świnoujście seaports, the most extensive investments in their history are pending. Their value comes to nearly three billion zlotys. Some of them are breakthrough, and although discussions about them have lasted for many years, now they are coming to fruition before our eyes,” said Krzysztof Urbaś, President of the Management Board of ZMPSiŚ SA (Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaport Authority, Joint-Stock Company). “Our priority is to adapt the infrastructure of both ports to the current trends in the maritime transport market, as well as to improve and expand the offer of both ports and, consequently, acquire additional contractors and cargoes,” adds K. Urbaś.
The tasks faced by DORACO include the construction of new wharves – the Dąbrowiecki and the one which closes the Notecki Basin. Furthermore, the reconstruction of the existing wharves (Katowicki, Chorzowski, Gliwicki-Uskok, and Chorzowski-Uskok) along the total length of approx. one thousand three hundred meters, lining of banks of the Ostrów Mieleński and Mieleńska Łąka Islands along the entire length of about 480 meters, as well as deepening of the Kaszuby Basin water area to 12.5 meters along with the conversion of the Notecki Basin into land. Moreover, water and sewage, electric and teletechnical networks will be reconstructed within the scope of these works, and the road and railway layouts will undergo modernization.
“One of the first hydrotechnical projects of DORACO was the Wulkan shipway, constructed at the end of the 1990s, precisely speaking, in Szczecin. We have extended our experience in terms of construction in this sector in Świnoujście, Kołobrzeg, and Mrzeżyno to complete several hydrotechnical tasks in recent years in our native Pomorskie Voivodeship. Now, we are in Szczecin again, proud of the fact that we can influence further development of the Polish maritime sector, this time by modernizing and extending the Port of Szczecin,” says Karol Zduńczyk – President of the Management Board of the DORACO Construction Corporation. “For some staff members of DORACO, Szczecin is their home. A possibility of carrying out the next works for this city after its stadium’s modernization gives enormous satisfaction and motivation for us to get the work done.”
The investment “Improvement of access to the Port in Szczecin in the Kaszuby Basin” is co-financed from the European Union’s Cohesion Fund within the Operational Program for Infrastructure and Environmental Improvement (POIiŚ). The cost of the investment is nearly PLN 223 million.
Co-financing is coming from the EU for the POIiŚ, and amounts to PLN 150.2 million.
The completion of the works is scheduled for Q2 2023.