Warsaw Voice - A "Polish" Port in Sweden

16 March 2005

The history of the port of Ystad in Sweden is closely related to Polish ferry operation. Of the 3,000 ships that dock in Ystad annually, 1,400 are Polish.

Boats belonging to Polish ship owners-Polferries, Unity Line and Euroafrica-moor at the Ystad wharf daily. At the beginning of the year, Unity Life introduced the ferry Gryf to the Ystad line and, at the end of February and beginning of March, the Wawel (see photo), belonging to Polferries, began making regular runs between Ystad and Świnoujście. In 2004 alone, almost 1.6 million of the 1.63 million tonnes of cargo handled by the port in Southern Scania were handled by Polish ferries. Ystad port employs an estimated 400 people.

Ferry lines between Poland and Ystad opened more than 40 years ago, which had great significance for the transformation of this little Swedish village into a port city. The port handles different types of cargo including timber, grain, sugar and other foodstuffs.

"Ystad is Scandinavia's gate to Central Europe," said Kaj Jansson, chairman of Ystad Commune Council. This opinion is confirmed by the cargo loads and passengers handled by the terminals, which are growing annually. Over the past five years, annual shipments of trucks and buses between Świnoujście and Ystad grew from 82,300 to over 125,500. The number of passengers transported between Poland and southern Scandinavia has also been growing rapidly. In 2004 it was 400,000, representing a quarter of all passenger traffic via Ystad.

Along with the growing passenger traffic, the transport of cars has also increased. In 1999-2005 the number of cars traveling to and from Poland and passing through customs at Ystad grew from 54,000 to over 82,000. In an attempt to adjust the port to the needs of growing trade with Poland, the city administration is reorganizing and modernizing city management and launching many projects in the vicinity. In mid-May a new wharf with a ramp for passengers will be completed. A new passenger terminal now under construction will be finished for use in the summer of 2006. Work on a logistic center in the port is also under way.

The city and port Ystad have joined the Baltic Cruise Project to attract tourists to picturesque Scania. Cultural cooperation and tourism as well as joint business and infrastructure initiatives are supported under the Four Corners Cooperation project in Scania, Świnoujście, Ruegen and Bornholm islands as well as neighboring regions of Denmark, Sweden, Poland and Germany. These initiatives are expected to provide an added boost to ferry transport between Poland and Scandinavia.