ORLEN Maritime Transshipment Terminal in Gdańsk is over 90 percent ready

The progress of construction of the ORLEN Maritime Transshipment Terminal for Petroleum Products in Gdańsk already exceeds 90 percent. Final works on fitting out of the facility are under way, and in the summer of 2024, the most important elements of the terminal were installed on the transshipment piers of the 380-meter long quay – 8 automated loading arms (weighing approximately 18 tons each), which will be used to load and unload raw materials and products between ships and the systems of the Gdańsk refinery.

The terminal will handle sea vessels with a length of up to 130 metres, a draft depth of up to approximately 5.8 metres and a width of up to 17.6 metres. Two modern transshipment stations for servicing tankers have been built, each of them equipped with four bidirectional loading arms.

– The assembly of steel structures of fire masts and pumps supplying them with water from the Martwa Wisła River has already been completed. Specialized security measures were implemented, control valves, measurement systems, fencing of the terminal and barriers were installed. All surfaces and lighting systems of the facility, along with the emergency power generator, as well as the security rooms are ready. The automation systems are nearing completion – enumerates Marcin Niezgoda, project manager at the ORLEN Investment Projects Department in Gdańsk.

The fire protection system and control room equipment still need to be completed. The installation of a video monitoring system and measurement systems at the transshipment stations is in progress. Next, the control systems will be commissioned.

Let us recall that thanks to the use of a specialized floating crane, the assembly of eight powerful loading arms took only one day. Each arm was installed in one working hour, whereas such an operation would normally take a whole day. – This was the most spectacular undertaking of 2024, and 2025 will be a key year. We are awaiting tests and start-up of all installed elements, development of software for filling, and then operation of the first tanker – reports Maciej Klecha, Construction Manager at the NDI Group.

The Maritime Transshipment Terminal for Petroleum Products on Martwa Wisła will improve the profitability and security of supplies of biocomponents for the production of fuels (bio gasoline and bio Diesel) and the transport of products produced in the Gdańsk refinery. Its target capacity may amount to up to 2 million tons of products per year. The value of the project will amount to approximately PLN 500 million, and its completion is expected in mid-2025.

The terminal will handle, among others: two key product streams: acceptance of biocomponents for the production of biofuels, which are currently delivered to the refinery in Gdańsk by rail, and transport to ships of advanced 2nd generation base oils. It will also be used to transship low-sulphur MGO (Marine Gas Oil) marine fuels intended for main engines and auxiliary equipment of vessels, as well as refinery-originating semi-finished products.

Access to the sea will increase purchasing and trade efficiency. The maritime terminal will also relieve the burden on the railway siding operating at the plant, where products are currently transported between the refinery and external transshipment points. Currently, products from Gdańsk are sent via external ports in Gdańsk and Gdynia.

The general contractor of this project is a consortium composed of the Sopot-based NDI Group, which is the leader, as well as Biproraf, BPBM “PROJMORS” and Dipl. Ing. SCHERZER GmbH.