History

Baltic Hub Container Terminal Sp. z o.o. is Poland’s largest and fastest growing container facility, and the only deep-water terminal in the Baltic Sea Region having direct ocean vessel calls from the Far East.

Located in the heart of the Baltic in the Port of Gdansk.

Baltic Hub started operations in 2007 under the name of DCT Gdansk and has a handling capacity of up to 2.9 million TEUs per year.

The total length of the terminal's two deepwater berths is 1.3km enabling it to handle 4 vessels simultaneously. The terminal serves more than 700 vessels per year, including 100 calls of the world's largest container ships.

BHCT was the first container terminal on the Baltic Sea to directly receive vessels from Asia. Today, it is the destination of the largest vessels in the world departing from China, Korea and other Asian countries.

Natural Gateway to Central and Eastern Europe

The terminal handles Polish imports, exports, transit and maritime transit. Thanks to good sea access, lack of ice, excellent operational capabilities and investments in infrastructure by the Polish government and the city of Gdansk, BHCT is very well connected to inland destinations and is a natural gateway to Central and Eastern Europe for containerized trade.

Employees and impact on the economy

BHCT employs over 1,400 people, more than 50 percent of whom live in and around Gdansk. The terminal has a direct and significant impact on the regional and Polish economy, generating more than 12 billion PLN annually to the state budget from VAT, excise and customs duties.

Shareholders

BHCT is owned by PSA International (40%), Polish Development Fund (30%) and IFM Global Infrastructure Fund advised by IFM Investors (30%).

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  • 2004
    2004

    The concept for the deep water container terminal located in Gdansk began in the late 90’s in order to address the ever growing potential of the Baltic’s deep-sea trading routes.

    Baltic Hub (DCT Gdansk at that time) was selected by the Port of Gdansk to design, construct and operate a new independent deep-sea container port that was aimed to be the largest of its kind in the Baltic

  • 2005-2007
    2005-2007

    The construction of Baltic Hub terminal (DCT Gdansk at that time) began on October 25th 2005.

    The investment was completed in early 2007. Phase I of the construction included a 36-hectare container terminal capable of handling 500.000 TEU's per year along with a 650m long quay serviced by 3 post-Panamax cranes and 5 RTG's. DCT also built a ro-ro (roll-on roll-off) quay with an additional capacity of 160.000 cargo units.

  • 2007
    2007

    Baltic Hub received its first vessel on the 1st of June 2007.

    The grand opening celebration took place on the 3rd of October 2007. During the first years of operations, the terminal specialized in handling feeder vessels, gaining important operational experience.

  • 2010
    2010

    Since January 2010, Baltic Hub, Poland’s only deep-sea terminal, started receiving on a weekly basis 8.000 TEU container vessels departing from the Far East bringing Polish imports, picking up Polish exports, and carrying transshipment for the key Baltic ports.

    This direct connectivity with Asia boosted BHCT’s development as it became the Baltic Sea hub, achieving 180% growth in 2010 and made BHCT one of the fastest growing terminals in the world.

  • 2011
    2011

    The new era for Baltic Hub opened in May 2011, when the facility started handling the Maersk Line’s E-type class container vessels with the capacity of 15.500 TEU, the world’s largest ships at that time.

    Thanks to this milestone, the company joined a prestigious group of North European deep-water container ports, serving the Ultra-Large Container Vessels on the weekly basis, the only such facility East of the Danish Straits.

  • 2012
    2012

    In March 2012, a land lease agreement was signed for the construction of a new container terminal - T2.

    Thanks to that the implementation of the strategy, aimed at making Poland, Pomerania and Gdansk the hub for Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, gained even more momentum.
    This year, BHCT became also the first container terminal operator in Poland to receive the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO). AEO is an international certificate established in 2008 by the European Commission to secure a smooth international trade flow accepted by Customs worldwide. Companies which have earned this certificate benefit from Customs simplifications as a result of being reliable partners.
    In 2012, the container terminal handled its second millionth TEU since the operations kick-off, and closed the year with yet another annual volume record of approximately 900.000 TEU.

  • 2013
    2013

    The first Triple E container vessel with a capacity of 18,000 TEU arrived at BHCT in August 2013.

    The uniqueness of EEE vessels stems not only from their size (400m long, 59m wide and 73m high), but also the efficiency and cost optimization they provide. A strategy that uses a combination of economies of scale and economic geography by delivering cargo closest to the destination brings tangible benefits.
    In 2013 the container terminal handled more than 1 150 000 TEU. This record has permanently put BHCT on the map of the world’s major container terminals and ensured its position as the biggest container terminal in terms of volume in the Baltic area in 2013.

  • 2014
    2014

    In the second half of 2014, key decisions on the construction of the T2 terminal were made - the company closed the process of obtaining financing for the investment, obtained binding permits for the construction of the new part of the terminal and selected the contractor for the works.

    That year, the terminal also opened a new four-track railway siding with a capacity of over 700,000 TEUs per year. As part of the project, container storage yards were built along the siding, as well as three crossings allowing the movement of handling equipment between the western and eastern parts of the siding.

  • 2015
    2015

    A landmark moment in the terminal's history was the start of cooperation with 2M Alliance in February 2015.

    Ships with containers from two of the world's largest shipping lines on one deck - Maersk Line and MSC - started arriving at BHCT.

    The MSC shipowner also included its largest vessels with a capacity of over 19,000 TEUs (such as the MSC Maya) in the Gdansk service.

    In May 2015, in response to container market demand, Baltic Hub started construction of a second deepwater berth - project T2. Completion of the EUR 200 million funded investment was scheduled for the end of 2016.

    In August, Baltic Hub started cooperation with the G6 alliance (a combination of shipping lines APL, HMM, MOL, Hapag-Lloyd, NYK and OOCL). The second alliance marked the terminal's second weekly direct call from Asia to Gdansk and, most importantly, opened new prospects for companies involved in trade with the Far East.

  • 2016
    2016

    In June 2016, the world's largest container ship at that moment with a capacity of 19,224 TEU - MSC Maya - arrived at Baltic Hub quay for the first time.

    The vessel will regularly call at the terminal as part of the 2M alliance's (Maersk Line, MSC) weekly ocean service.

    October 2016 saw the official opening of the second deepwater container quay at Baltic Hub.

    The 650m long T2 quay was equipped with five modern STS quay cranes, the largest in the Baltic Sea, capable of handling vessels with a capacity of over 22,000 TEU.

    Baltic Hub doubled its annual handling capacity from 1.5 to 3 million TEU, making it one of the largest container handling facilities in Northern Europe.

  • 2017
    2017

    The construction and opening of T2 has been carefully studied by shipowners.

    Proof of the rationality of this huge investment, was the decision of the members of the newly formed OCEAN Alliance (APL, CMA-CGM, COSCO SHIPPING, EVERGREEN and OOCL) to start cooperation with Baltic Hub.

    In May 2017, the terminal gained another direct connection from the Far East, implemented with vessels ranging from 19,000 TEU to 21,500 TEU (among them the largest container ships in the world such as OOCL Hong Kong).

    In 2017, BHCT introduced changes in the functioning of the truck service. The terminal created the eBRAMA tool dedicated to drivers, transport companies and forwarders. The eBRAMA allows planning visits to Baltic Hub to be optimal for all parties and improve the logistics chain.

    BHCT ended 2017 with 1.6 million TEUs handled, making the terminal one of the top 100 largest container ports in the world, according to Lloyds List.

  • 2018
    2018

    In 2018, the implementation of the T2B Program began, under which the terminal's railway siding, the terminal access road will be rebuilt.

    In addition, new equipment was purchased (STS, RMG and RTG cranes) and storage were expanded.
    Baltic Hub with 1.3km long deepwater quay line, 11 STS quay cranes, over 460 vessels (including 100 of the world's largest container vessels) handled annually and annual handling capacity of 3 million TEU, made it the largest container terminal in the Baltic Sea.

  • 2019
    2019

    March 2019 was very challenging for Baltic Hub.

    Terminal was jointly acquired by PSA International Ptd Ltd (PSA), the Polish Development Fund (PFR) and the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund (IFM).

    Three new STS cranes started operations at T2 quay, increasing the productivity of the terminal. In August BHCT also welcomed alongside the world’s first 24-row wide container vessel, the MSC Gulsun as part of her weekly 2M Silk/AE-10 service call.

    At the end of 2019 terminal reloaded its 2 millionth container in 2019 and thus became the first terminal in the Baltic Sea to cross the border of 2 million TEU serviced in one year.

  • 2020
    2020

    In 2020 Baltic Hub has successfully implemented an OCR system on its gates.

    The OCR project involved the implementation of fully automated gates which use OCR cameras (Optical Character Recognition) to register trucks and containers that arrive at BHCT.


    That year terminal also created its permanent representation located in Prague to work closely with customers in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

    In 2020 three new electrically powered Rail-Mounted Gantries (RMG cranes) dedicated for DCT’s railway siding have commenced operations. The cranes were purchased as a part of our T2b expansion program, enabling BHCT to take another step towards increasing productivity, efficiency and handling capacity for our rail customers

  • 2021
    2021

    Gdansk has risen to first place in the Baltic Sea container ranking in 2021.

    In April, the terminal handled its 15 millionth container since the start of operations.

    July brought the official awarding of the competition for the construction of Baltic Hub 3 by Baltic Hub.

    Thanks to the construction of the new terminal, a third deepwater berth will be added to the port, increasing BHCT's annual handling capacity from 1.5 million to a total of 4.5 million TEU.

    In August, the first feeder vessel of the new operator Fields called at BHCT, thus opening a new connection between Gdansk and Latvia.

    At the end of the year, Baltic Hub completed the expansion of the rail siding, making the terminal one of the largest rail container terminals in Europe.

    In December BHCT was transformed from a joint stock company into a limited liability company. The terminal ended the year with a record result of 2.1million TEU.

  • 2022
    2022

    In 2022 company celebrated its 15th anniversary connected with rebranding form “DCT Gdansk” to “Baltic Hub”

    After years of preparations, finally in October 2022 Baltic Hub has started construction of T3. The investment will enable BHCT to grow its capacity by 1,5m TEU per annum as from 4Q2024 and further strengthen the position in the region.

O Baltic Hub