| Home |
| News |
| Ports |
| Ports Authority |
| Investments |
| Offer for investors |
| Gallery |
| Site Map |
| Maps of the port |
Contact
Szczecin and Swinoujscie
Seaports Authority
Bytomska 7
70-603 Szczecin
tel. (+48 91) 430-82-20
fax. (+48 91) 462-34-12
info@port.szczecin.pl
| World economy and port market |
 |
|
The status of the world economy and shipping and port markets Discussions and speeches focused on the crisis and its impact on the maritime sector. Professor Stanislaw Flajterski emphasised that the crisis is a vague term and should not be used, since from the global point of view, there is always a sector struggling against crisis. Moreover, an economic crisis is nothing else but the lack of trust among certain entities towards others. A popular opinion in the discussion was that the downswing in the economy is good for investment, omission of which would be a mistake. Utilising the time of crisis, expressed by building new transport and port infrastructure will enable preparing for the economic upturn, and further efficient transport and cargo handling and relevant benefits. Much space was given to the decrease in cargo handling in ports, which apply virtually to every cargo group. Representatives of operators emphasised dramatic drop in freight indices. However, as they highlighted, specific markets are independent from each other. Although bulk cargo and container operators encountered a significant decrease, conventional general cargo transport to African countries is kept at a steady level. It is attributed to the fact that in African countries demand for investment goods under long-term aid programmes is still very high. Decrease in transport, both cargo and passenger, has been noted by ferry operators who could see the first signs of the crisis in November. Although still in September last year, Unity Line recorded over 10% increase in transport, in January the company encountered a drop in ferry transport by 20%. However, a positive development on Unity Line ferry lines is a growing popularity of the ferry terminal in Swinoujscie among Hungarian transport companies. Participants’ attention was bro0ught to the weakness of the Polish maritime sector due to the lack of the maritime policy which could be methodically implemented. An example of Germany was given as a country which implemented the maritime policy for many years, and the Russian Federation which developed their maritime policy paper base don the German example. State aid is an important issue for the maritime sector. However, it needs to be understood as a fulfilment of certain obligations by the state, including further development of expressway S3, investment improving navigability of the Oder, and modernising of railway lines leading to ports. Participants also stated that no port can operate efficiently without relevant quality of port access infrastructure. In fact, the state is responsible for its provision. Yet another issue discussed by the conference as raised by Jaroslaw Siergiej, CEO at Szczecin and Swinoujscie Seaports Authority, was that port authorities do not have any influence on efficiency in managing land by transhipment companies. This led to an issue of possible aid, its level and methods of providing it to port operators during the crisis. Speakers expressed moderate optimism. In the opinion of many of them, in the time of crisis companies should consequently continue their activity and implement plans. The conference was organised by the Maritime University of Szczecin, Office for Promoting Short Sea Shipping and Szczecin and Swinoujscie Seaports Authority. |