DCT GDAŃSK – HISTORY, DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATION OF THE LARGEST AND MOST MODERN MARITIME CONTAINER TERMINAL IN POLAND

Deepwater Container Terminal Gdańsk (DCT Gdańsk) is located in the southern part of the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Gdańsk and is an important element of the trans-European Bal- tic–Adriatic transport corridor. It is the only deep-water terminal (up to 17 m) in the Baltic Sea Region having direct ocean vessel calls from the Far East. The terminal handles Polish import and export, transshipment and transit. Its high competitive position in Central and Eastern Europe is due primarily to its easy nautical accessibility and year-round ice-free ac- cess (location at the estuary) combined with operational excellence. The article presents the origins, development and operational activity of the Gdańsk terminal. In the analytical part of the text, information provided by DCT Gdańsk, Eurostat data as well as industry reports by Lloyds List, Port Monitor or Container Management were used. Thanks to the results of the analysis one may conclude that the Port of Gdańsk (DCT included) will strengthen its competitive position both on the European and global market of container shipping in the near future.