PSL: Swedes have completed their investment as part of a ferry project and are waiting for our ferries, and we have nothing

Mr Rzepa referred to the Polish-Swedish ferry project at a press conference on Tuesday. As he said, as part of this project, the port of Ystad was to modernise two waterfronts in order to operate new ferries built by Polish Baltic Shipping (PZB); while Gaz System was to build a LNG gas tank in Szczecin.

According to Mr PSL, the condition that this project could have been signed was that we would build more than 200 metres of ferries, which would serve more goods and more people and, above all, would benefit the environment of the Baltic Sea.

"Swedish have completed their investment, modernised the waterfronts and are waiting for these ferries today. And today we don't even have a project, we don't have funding. We have nothing," said Rzepa.

The People's MP also referred to the Committee on Maritime Affairs and IWT, which discussed the implementation of the project entitled "Improving capacity and handling and bunkering of LNG. Sea Connection Świnoujście-Ystad".

"Heeding guests of the last committee, the Swedes were embarrassed about how Polish companies, the Polish government, are approaching the implementation of this project" - stressed Rzepa.

As part of this project, to be settled by the end of 2023, Ystad municipality undertook, among others, to expand its port so that it could receive more ferryPolish. Polish partners, i.e. Polish Baltic Shipping (PŻB), were to expand their ferry fleet, while Gaz System and Polish LNG companies – put a LNG bunker in the port in Świnoujście. The bunker is intended for the storage and refuelling of LNG-powered vessels. The joint Polish-Swedish project is co-financed from the EU.

During the Committee on Maritime Affairs and Inland Shipping, the representative of the port of Ystad said that the Swedish Ystad was concerned about the lack of progress on the part of Poland in the implementation of a joint project on, among others, increased capacity for transport and transhipment between Poland and Sweden.

Members of the meeting assessed that the threat to the project was very real, inter alia, because there had not yet been any ferries that would be on the Świnoujście-Ystad line. They asked government representatives and CBD when they could be expected.

The representative of Gaz-System Piotr Kuś stated that for his part the company conducted a feasibility study on bunkering of LNG vessels. He added that there were also talks on the lease of an appropriate unit that could deal with such tanking. A technical specification shall be prepared to enable any tenders to be launched.

Kuś stressed, however, that one of the necessary conditions to be able to write them is the knowledge that the ferry programme will be implemented.

Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Grzegorz Witkowski assured that the priority of the resort was to equip Polish shipowners with a modern and ecological fleet and to increase its capabilities in the Baltic Sea. He stressed that Polish ferries will not be built in China, and that decisions on this issue are about to be made. "We will make time with delivery to the line (Swinoujście-Ystad – PAP) ferryhe said.

President of PŻB Andrzej Madejski, referring to the Polish-Swedish project, indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic affected his delay. "At the moment there are recent discussions with the Treasury to clarify the details of our joint PMI and PMI project, details of the business plan, which will be our way of investing in construction ferry"He said.

Madejski stated that PZB is planning to rebuild one of the ferryso that it can be powered by LNG and swim on the Świnoujście-Ystad line. "The CB is after repeated discussions with shipyards carrying out such reconstruction... Delivering drives and rebuilding the ferry is about a year" - he said.

Source: PAP