200 guests attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the T3 terminal at the Baltic Hub. For the vast majority of them - with the exception of probably some of the employees of Baltic Hub, Budimex and Deme Dredging, among others - it was the first opportunity to enter a brand new area. The T3 under construction expands Poland's territory by exactly 36 hectares, an area equal to more than 50 full-size football fields. The terminal is being built by inundating an area where until recently there was sea.

On June 5, 2024, invited guests had the opportunity to see the progress of the work. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on T3 itself, with excavators and other construction machinery constantly at work next to it. The ceremony was attended, among others, by representatives of the authorities and owners of the Baltic Hub, the government and the local government, as well as institutions and companies that were friendly and involved in the project.

The first to speak was host Charles Baker, CEO of the Baltic Hub. "It's always sunny in Gdańsk," Baker began in reference to a short video showing the progress of the work. He could not have known that moments after the official part of the ceremony ended, a storm would pass over the terminal. In his speech, he focused on his thanks to all those involved in the project, both from the Baltic Hub itself, as well as from Budimex and Deme Dredging - the consortium that is the main contractor - and other organizations. Baker also emphasized the role of appropriate cooperation in working not only on T3, but on strengthening the Polish economy.

"This investment means a big increase in the capacity of the Baltic Hub. We all know that since 2020, since the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many disruptions to global trade and business. It seems like one thing came up after another, we got out of bed every day and had to adapt operations and strategies to the new situation to do the best we could for our community, for our customers, for our supply chains," Baker mentioned. He also aired that ports are struggling with congestion due to a lack of adequate capacity and forward thinking, "This is also a testament to the vision of the Baltic Hub investors and collaborators, the Port Authority, the Ministry, who knew that this infrastructure had to be built in advance."

"These 36 hectares are a window to the great world of maritime transport, a chance to develop, to take another step in building such an important part of the Polish economy as the maritime economy," said Deputy Infrastructure Minister Arkadiusz Marchewka. "Here, in Gdańsk, the world's largest container ships will enter along the most important transport routes. The increase in transshipment volume to 4.5 TEUs means that we will have one of the largest terminals of this type on the continent in Poland."

The deputy minister also said that the investment sets the direction Poland should follow - strengthening the development of ports and the entire maritime economy. He also looked to the future, mentioning the T5 installation terminal to be built at the Baltic Hub down the road.

Mayor of Gdańsk, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, stressed that the co-owners of the Baltic Hub through the state-owned Polish Development Fund are all citizens of the country. She also mentioned the difficulties that had to be overcome in creating the infrastructure for the Baltic Hub, formerly DCT. "I don't know if anyone could have guessed that the Baltic Hub would gain such momentum. Today it is very important for Gdańsk. There are also challenges involved, and we are talking about them with the Minister, the Port Authority, the Baltic Hub. After all, these containers from Gdańsk, from this terminal, will have to be transported to other parts of Poland and Europe," Dulkiewicz said. She also thanked for cooperation with the local community of neighborhoods neighboring the terminal.

Dorota Pyć, president of the Port of Gdańsk Authority, also spoke.

"In 2013 I had the opportunity to be here and for the first time to board a container ship, the Mc-Kinney Møller, which came on its maiden voyage to the Port of Gdańsk, the Deepwater Container Terminal. It was an extraordinary event for me to enter the bridge, to see the horizon from one side and the other, to see how these boxes travel on the cranes. That was 11 years ago," recalled CEO Dorota Pyć. "We are in a unique place in the Northern Port. This year it will be 50 years old. The Baltic Hub will soon turn 18 years old. It is the youngest part of the Port of Gdańsk, the most beautifully developing, and it requires a consistent, multi-year effort for the construction of infrastructure, primarily rail, so that we can bring cargo in and out of the port, because that is its role. We need a strong intermodal," she continued. "I wish we had the kind of strength at the port that has occurred here at the Baltic Hub. I promise full cooperation with both the Baltic Hub and all entities that are interested and have the strength, resources and heart to strengthen the Polish maritime economy."

Bartlomiej Pawlak, vice-president of the Polish Development Fund, in turn, assured that PFR's investments, such as the Baltic Hub, more than pay for themselves.

"I have dealt many times with foreign investments, which consisted of Poland giving land, workers and public assistance. Here we go a step further. We are a full participant in the whole process. If we conjugate the slogan "local content" through all cases, then here it is really realized," Pawlak said.

Deepa Bharadwaj, Head of Infrastructure for Europe at IFM Investors, part of IFM Global Infrastructure, which in turn has a 30% stake in Baltic Hub, stressed that this is a strategic investment for the company.

"We have been investing in infrastructure in Australia, the Americas, Europe for more than 30 years. When we think about new investments, we don't think short-term. We think long-term, we think about value creation, but most importantly, we want to continue supporting local economies," Bharadwaj said.

The last guest speaker was David Yang, Regional CEO at PSA International, which owns a 40% stake in the Baltic Hub. At the outset, he recalled that years ago, during his first meeting with PFR representatives, he heard that the Fund wanted to "build Singapore on the Baltic Sea."

"We realized that we think alike. Poland is one of the fastest growing regions in Europe, if not the fastest growing. We felt honored that the Polish government thought of Singapore as an example in terms of maritime trade," Yang said. "And so we took up the challenge. We now recognize that the experience we have gained over the last 35 years, actually the last 50 years in Singapore, is relevant to the experience Poland is now facing."

After the speeches by the guests, the ceremony's host Sergiusz Ryczel invited to the final part of the event. The guests, representing the Baltic Hub, the port, government and local authorities, as well as investors and the main contractor for T3, a consortium of Budimex and Deme Dredging, were invited to sign a letter, which was then sealed in a special time capsule. Moments later, everyone moved outside, where the capsule was officially sealed as a cornerstone.

The terminal is expected to be handed over for use next year. Part of the work is already complete. The entire site is already primed, and reinforced concrete work is underway. During the groundbreaking ceremony, the assembled guests were able to observe, among other things, work on the future storage yards from a safe distance. The first deliveries of equipment are scheduled for later this year. The first to arrive in parts will be the CRMG (cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes), which will operate at the yards. At the end of the year, on the other hand, delivery of STS (ship-to-shore) quay cranes is planned, which will arrive already assembled and will be unloaded directly onto the finished quay. The deliveries will be divided into two parts - four cranes will arrive the first time, and three the second. At the same time, these will be some of the tallest structures in the area, so the whole operation will be spectacular. It will be possible to watch it, among other things, from the nearby beach in Gdańsk's Stogi district. The equipment working on T3 will be semi-automatic, which means that its control and management will be done remotely, from the office building.

Baltic Hub T3, when put into operation, will have a deep-water quay with a total length of 717 meters and a depth of 18 meters. Thus, it will be equipped to handle the largest 400-meter container ships that can enter the Baltic Sea. Baltic Hub reports that upon completion, it will be one of the largest facilities of its kind on the continent.