Gdansk: automated loading arms completed at the Marine Transshipment Terminal

Orlen has completed the installation of eight automated loading arms, weighing approximately 18 tonnes each, which will be used for the transhipment of raw materials and products between vessels and installations of the refinery in Gdansk. This is a key stage of ORLEN Group’s investment – the construction of the Marine Transshipment Terminal on the Dead Vistula.

A conference was held at the company’s headquarters in Gdansk on Tuesday, during which Orlen representatives informed that the progress of the construction of the Marine Transshipment Terminal has already exceeded 75 per cent.

According to the company, the Marine Transshipment Terminal for Petroleum Products on the Martwa Wisła River will improve the profitability and security of supply of bio-components for fuel production (biobenzine and biodiesel) and the transport of products manufactured at the Gdansk refinery. Its target capacity could be up to 2 million tonnes of products per year. The value of the investment will be around PLN 500 million, and it is planned to be completed in the second half of 2025.

Orlen’s Logistics Development Office director Łukasz Wojtaszek stresses that the terminal will handle, among other things, two key product streams: the receipt of bio-components for biofuel production, which are currently delivered to the refinery in Gdansk by rail, and the transport to ships of advanced second-generation base oils.

It will also serve to transship low-sulphur MGO (Marine Gas Oil) marine fuels for the main engines and auxiliary equipment of vessels and refinery intermediates. Access to the sea will increase our purchasing and commercial efficiency,’ explains Wojtaszek in a press release sent to PAP.

The offshore terminal will relieve the rail siding operating at the site, where the transport of products between the refinery and external transshipment points has so far taken place. Currently, products are shipped via external ports in Gdansk and Gdynia.

In the second half of July 2024, all loading arms were installed on the transhipment piers of the 380-metre quay. In the future, it will handle marine vessels of up to 130 metres in length, a draft depth of up to approximately 5.8 metres and a width of up to 17.6 metres. Two state-of-the-art tanker loading bays will be built, each equipped with four bi-directional loading arms.

Road and process works are currently being carried out on site, as well as the installation of pipelines and flyovers that will connect the terminal to the refinery. Finishing work is underway on the technical facilities building, which will house the quay command centre and ancillary infrastructure. Installation of switchgear, transformers and control cabinets for electrical, teletechnical and automation systems is also underway.

The next stage on the quay will involve the installation of masts with fire-fighting guns, as well as fire-fighting fittings and finishing work in the technical facilities building. This will be followed by the commissioning of the control systems.

The general contractor for the investment is a consortium of companies from the Sopot-based NDI Group, which is the leader, as well as Biproraf, BPBM ‘PROJMORS’ and Dipl. Ing. SCHERZER GmbH.

Source: PortalMorski.pl