Poland has launched a PLN2.5bn (US$639m) tender for the construction of marine infrastructure for its planned deepwater container port at Świnoujście, on the Baltic coast. The works will create a reclaimed peninsula for the new outer port, including the maritime access channel, protective breakwaters, port basin and container quay.
The procurement is being jointly conducted by the Szczecin Maritime Office and the Szczecin–Świnoujście Seaports Authority under the Cape Pomerania project (Przylądek Pomerania), a wider plan to build a new 186ha outer port at Świnoujście, with a deepwater container terminal as its main component.
The contract covers design and construction and is being tendered through a competitive dialogue procedure. The authorities sent the tender notice for publication in the EU Official Journal on 3 November and plan to select a contractor in the third quarter of 2027.
The contract is being procured in two complementary packages, with each authority responsible for a separate scope of work. The Szczecin Maritime Office will oversee construction of a 3,350m breakwater and a 1,580m eastern breakwater to shelter the container quay. It will also oversee the maritime access infrastructure, including the approach channel, turning basin and navigational aids, together with the associated dredging works and transport of suitable dredged material to the reclamation areas. The Seaports Authority will oversee construction of the 1,300m-long container quay, the port basin and a 120m auxiliary quay.
“After 12 months of intensive work, we are launching the tender to select a contractor for the marine infrastructure of Przylądek Pomerania, the most ambitious project in the history of the Szczecin-Świnoujście port complex. The site will accommodate a deepwater container terminal capable of handling the largest vessels able to enter the Baltic Sea,” said Arkadiusz Marchewka, Poland’s Deputy Infrastructure Minister. “This will give Polish ports a strong advantage in competing with ports in Western Europe.”
The planned container terminal is designed to handle up to 2m TEU a year.
The procurement follows a ruling by Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court dismissing a cassation appeal by German environmental association Lebensraum für Pommern e.V. against the terminal’s environmental approval. The court upheld the decision issued by Poland’s General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ), removing a major legal obstacle to the project.
Plans for a deepwater container terminal at Świnoujście date back to at least 2019, when the Szczecin-Świnoujście Seaports Authority presented a concept for an outer port east of the existing LNG terminal, whose proximity could also enable direct LNG bunkering for visiting container ships. In 2023, DEME Concessions and QTerminals were selected as preferred private investors under a proposed 30-year lease for the terminal.
Świnoujście is being developed as a potential gateway for the southern Baltic, with the terminal designed to accommodate direct calls by ocean-going vessels rather than relying on feeder connections through North Sea hubs. Its position near the Danish Straits puts it on shipping routes linking Scandinavia with central and southern Europe, and Finland with western Europe. Project proponents see it as a potential alternative to established North Range gateways.
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