Two bidders are participating in the current procedure for the construction of a deepwater container terminal in Świnoujście - the British and a Belgian-Qatari consortium. The Polish company dropped out of the race.

According to current estimates, the planned deepwater container terminal in Świnoujście is to cost about PLN 3 billion, with the reservation that inflation may increase this amount. The Szczecin-Świnoujście Seaports Authority calculates that the terminal will be able to handle 1.5-2 million teu annually.

In the current procedure, the purpose of which is to select the company that will build and operate the terminal, two offers are being considered. The first of them was submitted by the British company Baltic Gateway, and the second was presented by a consortium consisting of Belgian Deme Concessions and Qatari QTerminals. The competition commission has already announced that these offers meet the formal requirements. Interestingly, other entities also expressed interest in the current proceedings, e.g. the Polish Industrial Development Agency, which, however, finally did not submit an offer.

Both Baltic Gateway and Deme Concessions applied for participation in the procedure already in the earlier phase of the competition in 2021. Ultimately, only Baltic Gateway reached the final stage, but its offer did not meet the formal requirements at that time - so the whole procedure had to be started anew.

In the current proceedings, the new name is QTerminals, which entered into a consortium with Deme Concessions, in Poland associated mainly with activities on the offshore market and the implementation of specialized works related to marine engineering. QTerminals is a joint venture of Quatar Ports Management Company (Mwani Quatar) and Quatar Navitagion. The company was established to manage the port of Hamad in Qatar and this is its main activity. There are two container terminals in Hamad, a general cargo terminal, an offshore terminal and a multifunctional terminal, while another container terminal and a bulk and grain terminal are under construction. The possible creation of a container terminal in Świnoujście would be QTerminals' first investment in this part of the world.

According to the original plan, the contract with the investor would be signed in autumn this year. Before the construction is completed, both the port and the government party still have to fulfill their part of the agreement - to build a new approach fairway to the port in Świnoujście, which will bypass German waters. The shipping canal is to allow vessels with a draft of up to 15 meters to enter, thanks to which the planned container terminal will be able to handle ocean-going vessels.