Maritime transport as a profitable alternative to land transport between Poland and Spain

Information on the conference

Maritime Institute in Gdansk in collaboration with Polish-Spanish Chamber of Commerce organised an international conference titled: Maritime transport as a profitable alternative to land transport between Poland and Spain. The conference took place on 27th may 2009 in Warsaw in the Conference Room of Ministry of Economy.

The main goals of the conference were to present the results of the project :Motorways of the Sea and Logistics Fostering Spanish Export Competitiveness in Eastern European Markets, financed by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and to discuss the concept of the alternative transport services that would include short-sea shipping services in the trade exchange of cargo loads (incl. refrigerated cargo) between Poland and Spain. The subject matter of the conference is addressed to both governmental institutions and wide scope of potential operators and beneficiaries of the alternative services (importers, exporters, forwarders, freighters and port operators).

Growing freight volumes and the increasing share of road transport in modal split has drawn attention of individual governments and international organisations to the significance of sustainable transport development. It is one of the essential elements of EU transport policy which aims at establishment of efficient and innovative transport-logistics system for the entire region with respect to the requirements of natural environmental protection.

Development of Motorways of the Sea and intermodal freight are important alternatives for road transport. The ever-changing market provides new opportunities as well as new challenges to transport and logistics companies. The increasing clients expectations and constant improvement of the market offer competitiveness, both require the extension of business activities to new market segments (geographical area and products) and introduction of new services and solutions. The maritime links and short-sea shipping gain on importance providing transport for 40% of all goods between European countries. Therefore, the use and development of seaports as well as transport infrastructure linking ports with hinterland is crucial.

The further increase of the maritime transport role in the freight between Spain and Poland depends on the new transport offer within the existing sea-land transport chains from forwarder to recipient. It is vital to expand the supply of cargo in order to make the short-sea shipping route more competitive for refrigerated cargo. Consolidation of importers and exporters around the future transport operator of the planned connection is essential. The measure that would increase the success of the scheme is the EU financing. It would significantly influence the level of freight rates, at least in the beginning of the operation and would attract the interest of the potential users in the service.

The conference was in line with the existing programme of economic cooperation between both countries that has been established during the governmental summit in Spain in October 2008.

Conference office:

• Conference plan