Springtime finds DCT Gdansk right on schedule

DCT Gdansk is building the first container terminal in the Baltic Sea that will be capable of berthing the largest vessels currently in service. Its first stage will see the construction of a 36 hectare terminal capable of handling 500,000TEU per annum. A roll-on, roll-off berth will add an extra 50,000 freight units to this capacity.

A 600m quay will be served initially by three post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes and five rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes. Liebherr is building both types of crane for the terminal and the first examples will arrive fully erected in Gdansk in early March 2007. The remaining cranes will arrive in large component form for erection on site. Commissioning, trials and driver training should be completed during May ready for the first ships to berth at the beginning of June. By July, all of the cranes should be operational and the entire 650m of quay should be completed by October.

DCT Gdansk will offer a depth alongside of 16.5m and the ship-to-shore cranes will have an outreach of 44m from the quay, sufficient to handle ships carrying containers 18-abreast on deck. The approaches to the Port of Gdansk also offer a minimum 16.5m depth thus accommodating 15m draft “Baltimax” vessels and the port remains effectively ice free all year round.