The preparatory phase comprises a series of activities aimed at getting the project implementation phase underway.  

The preparatory phase of the project for construction of the Outer Port in the Port of Gdynia began with the development of a preliminary multi-discipline and multi-variant concept for its implementation. Conclusions from work on the multi-discipline concept were used to develop the implementation concept, which is a detailed technical and organisational description of the planned Outer Port. As a result of consultations with various institutions, the concept was revised several times. Its final scope minimises, and in some cases completely eliminates, the potential negative impact of the project on the elements of its surroundings.

The final concept allows the most important assumptions regarding the functionality of the future Outer Port to be met. The new port pier will cover an area of approximately 150 hectares and the length of the usable quays will be approximately 3330 metres - including 1660 metres of the main quay of the container terminal. Road traffic will be handled by a truck terminal with an entry and exit gate system. Efficient handling of container vessels is to be ensured by STS (ship-to-shore) Super-post-Panamax cranes, which are proven to handle the largest container ships. It is envisaged that 15 cranes of this type will be used by the time the terminal nears its target capacity.

In addition, the project includes dredging works in the future port basins and access fairways to the Port of Gdynia. The dredging works will be carried out in such a way as to optimise the process - the dredged material from the basins will be used to erect an artificial port pier. This will significantly minimise the environmental impact of the investment during its implementation.

The implementation of complementary projects necessary for the operation of the Outer Port, such as the construction of new breakwaters in the Port of Gdynia and the expansion of rail and road access, is possible thanks to the cooperation of Port of Gdynia S.A. with the Maritime Office in Gdynia, General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways, PKP PLK (Polish State Railways) and central, regional and local authorities.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

As part of the project preparation an appraisal was conducted  to determine a project scheme which would prove to be the  most efficient and provide the maximum benefits for the public.. In November 2019, the Port of Gdynia Authority SA and the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy (then the Ministry of Investment and Development) signed contracts for the project transaction advisory  with the  advisory consortium selected in a tender. Transaction advisory covers technical, economic, financial and legal aspects of the project. The  advisory consortium includes:

• Ernst&Young sp. z o.o., Corporate Finance s.k. – consortium leader, financial and economic advisor,
  Domański Zakrzewski Palinka s.k. – legal advisor,
  Databout sp. z o.o. – technical advisor.

Learn more about the PPP in the PPP tab.

Research, design engineering, and administrative decisions

The size and scope of the project imply the need for large-scale environmental and technical studies. Port of Gdynia Authority has carried out a number of analyses of the potential environmental impacts of the investment between 2018 and 2020. For more details, please see the  ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION tab.

The final result of the analyses is the Environmental Impact Report for the project. The report was the basis for Port of Gdynia Authority’s application for the environmental permit for the project. The authority issuing the permit is the Regional Director for Environmental Protection. The environmental permit became legally binding in November 2021.

The environmental permit is one of the bases for applying for further approvals, such as the water permit, the location decision and the building permit.

The implementation phase of a PPP project is the responsibility of the selected Private Partner and comprises two parts.
The first of these is the development of the construction project and obtaining the relevant administrative decisions - including the building permit. In the case of the 'Construction of the Outer Port in the Port of Gdynia' project, the building permit design will be carried out on the basis of the execution concept and the findings of the negotiations within the Competitive Dialogue, as well as the environmental and location decisions and other relevant regulations. The entire project documentation will be prepared by the Private Partner. The building permit is the final deliverable of this part of the Project.

Obtaining the building permit completes the first part of the implementation phase of the project, followed by the second, proper implementation phase.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

In November 2019, Port of Gdynia Authority S.A. and the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy (then the Ministry of Investment and Development) signed agreements for the provision of transaction consultancy for the project, with a consulting consortium selected through a tender process.

As part of the preparation of the investment, an assessment of the effectiveness of the analysis was carried out to determine the most effective and beneficial formula for implementing the project. Transactional consulting covers the technical, economic, financial and legal aspects of the project. The consulting consortium comprises:

• Ernst&Young sp. z o.o., Corporate Finance s.k. ,
• Domański Zakrzewski Palinka s.k.,
• Databout sp. z o.o.

For more information on Public-Private Partnerships, see PPP tab.

The main part of the implementation phase involves the construction and equipping of the Outer Port. The following works are expected to be carried out as part of the investment:

• dredging - dredging the new port basins and the access fairway to the Outer Port,
• refining - depositing excavated spoil at the pier site,
• demolition of a section of the existing southern breakwater of the Port of Gdynia,
• construction of the Outer Port pier - laying an artificial peninsula,
• construction of usable quays and pier enclosures - including the widening of the existing Śląskie Quay at the Port of Gdynia's Węglowe Pier,
• construction of wave distractors,
• construction of storage yards, paving and cubic facilities on the pier,
• construction of infrastructure and equipment for a container terminal,
• construction and equipping of an intermodal rail terminal with a connection to the existing and currently extended PKP PLK (Polish State Railways) rail track network,
• construction and equipping of a car terminal including connection to the planned vehicular road network,
• equipping the Outer Port with all necessary installations, electrical, telecommunication, water and sewage networks,
• construction of fences, installation of lighting.

Description of the works within the investment

The figure below shows an illustrative blueprint of the future Outer Port with the indication of its basic functions, the location of the fairways and hydrotechnical structures (also being the scope of the complementary project related to the construction of the breakwaters). The dredging works to be carried out as part of the Project will cover an area of about 5.3 km², while their anticipated volume will be about 21.5 million m³.

Fig. 1. Scope of the Outer Port investment in the Port of Gdynia from the water side

Due to the need to adapt the investment agenda to market conditions, it is envisaged that construction work will be phased. This will allow the project to achieve the best possible financial indicators. As a result, at the beginning only the initial section of the port pier will be built. The further part of the pier will be added in accordance with forecasts of demand for an increase in the terminal's handling capacity.

The operation phase will be initiated once the construction of the Outer Port has been completed and the commissioning and acceptance procedures have been carried out.

The Private Partner will be the entity responsible for the operation of the terminal. The basis for the cooperation between Port of Gdynia Authority S.A. and the Private Partner will be a long-term PPP agreement.

In view of the development plans for the Port of Gdynia, related to the expansion of the port towards the Bay of Puck, the construction of new breakwaters will be necessary, which will not only enable the operation of new port terminals, but will also contribute to increasing the safety of navigation for vessels calling at existing terminals. An important aspect of the expansion of the maritime access infrastructure is to ensure the uninterrupted operation of the Navy services, whose base is located in the north-eastern region of the Port of Gdynia.

The construction of the breakwaters is not included in the PPP project and will be carried out by the public entity on the basis of a traditional public procurement contract.

Currently, the connection between the eastern terminals in the Port of Gdynia and the national road network is via Polska Street, Janka Wiśniewskiego Street and Kwiatkowski Flyover. Due to the progressive exhaustion of the road system's capacity, a decision was made to implement a key investment at the scale of the city and the region, the Red Road.

The Red Road is a key part of the last mile which, through a system of collision-free junctions and carriageway sections between them, will connect the Port of Gdynia with the S6 expressway (and ultimately the S7 and the A1 motorway).

The planned Red Road on the eastern side will start in the area of the former Nauta Shipyard, near the north-western corner of Basin II of the Port of Gdynia. From there, it will be routed through an extended and partly completely new road system comprising:

• extended Polska Street (Nowa Polska),
• reconstructed grade-separated Intersection of the Victims of December '70,
• extended Janka Wiśniewskiego Street,
• extended grade-separated intersection of Janka Wiśniewskiego Street – Kwiatkowski Flyover,
• a new section leading from Kwiatkowski Flyover to the grade-separated Morska Street- Tri-City Bypass intersection, via the grade-separated Logistyczna Valley intersection.

The parameters of the Red Road will be in accordance with the guidelines for the TEN-T Trans-European Transport Network Core Network. The Red Road concept was agreed with the Municipality of Gdynia on 26 November 2020. The Port of Gdynia Authority will be responsible for the completion of the section between the Outer Port and the Karlskrona Roundabout, while the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways will be responsible for the other sections. Work is currently underway on the Technical-Economic-Environmental Study for the Red Road. The contract between General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways and the contractor Mosty Katowice was signed in October 2022. The contractor has 18 months to prepare the documentation, which will form the basis for applying for an environmental decision.

Fig. 2. The route of the planned Red Road

The rail connection of the Outer Port Terminals will be along the Śląskie Quay of the Port of Gdynia by means of two access tracks in the direction of the Chrzanowskiego Street crossing. Further connection to the PKP PLK (Polish State Railway) infrastructure is being carried out as part of a separate investment task "Improvement of rail access to the sea port in Gdynia" conducted by PKP PLK. Works under this project will enable effective communication of port terminals with the railway network.