Leszek
Turowski
AUTOR
Leszek
Turowski
16.03.2021
On 6 April 2021, for the first time in history, a shipment of containers with cargo for manufacturing companies from the region will sail from seaports to the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region. The goods will be transloaded at a quay near Chełmno, from where trucks will collect the containers. At the same time, another shipment will be loaded and the barge will return to the Coast. The entire operation, during which at least 24 TEUs (equivalent to a 20-foot container) will be transported, is expected to take about 5 days.
The pilot cruise is possible thanks to the international project EMMA Extension (INTERREG Baltic Sea Region programme). The project partners from Germany, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania and Poland want to draw attention to the benefits and advantages of water transport and mobilise managing authorities to bring inland waterways back to the core of transport modes. This is a trend consistent with the policy of developing a competitive and sustainable transport system outlined in the European Commission’s “White Paper”. For this reason, the main objectives of the project include:
- promotion of inland waterway transport in Poland as the most economical, safe and environmentally friendly,
- raising awareness of the use of inland waterway services and infrastructure among cargo owners and shipping companies,
- promotion of activities related to the planned construction of the Bydgoszcz Logistic Hub, which will use, among others, the potential of waterways.
The location of the pilot project is not insignificant. The issue of the revitalisation of waterways and the economic use of the potential offered by rivers is one of the important features of the place-based policy of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. The region includes the intersection of the E40 and E70 international waterways, as well as the only operational barrage on the Lower Vistula in Włocławek. The specific geographical location, which offers great opportunities for development, and the investment projects planned in this area mean that, as a voivodeship, we are particularly interested in all activities aimed at revitalising the Lower Vistula and unleashing its economic potential while respecting the natural environment.
Apart from promoting inland navigation, the cruise has another important objective, which is to test in practice the possibilities of transporting and transloading goods that travel from seaports inland as an alternative to road or rail transport. In this case, water transport will be integrated into the supply chain, which in the future could pass through a logistics centre in the heart of the region – the Bydgoszcz Logistics Hub. Owing to studies prepared by the Self-Government of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship, including the Location Study for the Bydgoszcz-Solec Kujawski multimodal platform and the Last Mile Concept for the Bydgoszcz Logistics Hub, parameters of the future port were determined and needs of the region’s business entities were identified with a view to optimising logistics operations and the use of inland waterway transport.
The organisation of the cruises fits in perfectly with the national transport policy and the activities of the Ministry of Infrastructure, which promote the use of alternative modes of transport and the transfer of part of the cargo from road transport to rail and water transport, as well as the construction of modern inter- and multimodal terminals, which will improve existing supply chains. This issue will also be important in the context of the planned revision of the TEN-T network and the possibility of including international waterways and the Bydgoszcz Logistics Hub in it, while the promotion of water transport will also indirectly justify the necessity and legitimacy of developing strategic programmes for the Vistula and Oder rivers.
Accordingly, we encourage you to follow the Facebook fanpage and other media for updates on the cruise:
Facebook Kujawsko-Pomorskie Forum Wodne
Portal Województwa Kujawsko-Pomorskiego
Schedule of the WISŁA CARGO 2021 container cruise on the Lower Vistula 06-10 April, 2021
Day 1. (06.04)
- loading a barge in the Gdańsk seaport at the Szczecińskie Quay
- 12:00 – start of the cruise
- about 15:00 – crossing the Przegalina lock
- about 18:00 – night maintenance break in the vicinity of Tczew
Day 2. (07.04)
- continuation of the cruise
- night maintenance break in Grudziądz
Day 3. (08.04) – opportunity to participate in the event
- about 10:00 – arrival of the vessel at the transloading point in Chełmno, the Vistula Quay at Powiśle Street
- unloading of imported containers and loading them onto lorries
- loading exported containers from lorries onto the barge
- press conference with invited guests
- about 18:00 – start of the return cruise
Day 4-5. (09-10.04)
- unloading the barge in the Gdańsk seaport
- reallocation of containers to export sea terminals
Basic data
- itinerary: Port of Gdańsk – Chełmno – Port of Gdańsk,
- distance: 152 km one way,
- cargo: min. 24 TEU (or equivalent – 12 40-foot containers),
- weight of a full 40′ container: 27 tonnes,
- vessel: 350-tonne barge and a pusher tug,
- transloading to trucks and loading of export containers: Chełmno quay.
