History:.

One of the most significant problem for the port was always the navigability of the fairway from Szczecin to the open sea. It became particularly important in XVIII and at the beginning of XIX century. That time the west outlet of Odra river (Piana) was under Swedish control who imposed high customs duties on the ships entering Szczecin port. The Authorities of Szczecin, on having obtained financial support from Prussian government, undertook a project to dredge the central part of Odra outlet (Swina) and to construct an unloading port in Swinoujscie. From that time on the ships of greater draught were unloaded in Swinoujscie and part of the goods transported to Szczecin with flat-bottomed boats. In 1880 the other channel (Piastowski Channel) was opened. It made the way from Swinojscie to Szczecin much shorter. Ten years later the depth of fairway across Szczecin Bay reached seven metres.

The XIX century brought also further expansion of transport connections with inland hinterland. That time Szczecin was connected with several cities and towns of Pomerania by means of hardened roads and in the middle of XIX century there were railway connections to Berlin, Poznan and Wroclaw established. The above events and undertakings combined with growing capacities of water transport vessels caused significant increase in port turnovers. In 1823, the year when the first steamship entered the Szczecin port, the turnover reached not more than 50 thousand tons while in 1880 it was the level of about 1,2 million tons.

The growth in cargo handling forced the expansion of port areas. At the beginning the new wharves were located along Parnica and Dunczyca rivers.