Polish Ports Congress 2030
On 10 and 11 June 2024, the national Polish conference dedicated to maritime ports - Kongres Polskie Porty - was held at the Radisson Blue Hotel in Sopot. The honorary patron of the event was the Ministry of Infrastructure. The two-day Congress was attended by more than 700 participants, including HM The Rector of GMU, Professor Adam Weintrit.
The event was opened by the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Arkadiusz Marchewka. Also taking to the floor to welcome participants was the Deputy Marshall of Pomerania, Leszek Bonna and the Organiser of the conference, Matesuz Kowalewski, the publisher and editor-in-chief at GospodarkaMorska.pl, ZielonaGospodarka.pl and MarinePoland.com.
On the first day of the Congress, five panels were held, and two talks were given. Presenting on the first day was Professor Maciej Matczak of Gdynia Maritime University, who also chaired a panel entitled “Defence & Risk Management” on the safety of ports and shipping routes on the second day of the event. Following an opening talk by Professor Bogdan Góralczyk on the current changes in the global geopolitical power structure, the five panels on 10 June discussed the topics of “Strategy & Future” - the potential and perspectives for the most important ports in the country, “Safety & Security” - on critical infrastructure, energy safety and dual-use infrastructure. The third panel discussed investments, planning, design, general contracting, and resources in connection with “Infrastructure and hydro-technical constructions”. This was followed by a panel discussing “Terminals and their Infrastructure”, which focused on the effective management of cargo and port infrastructure. The final panel of the day concerned the green transformation of ports. The first day of the event came to a close following a ceremonial gala during which Lights of the Maritime Industry awards were presented.
The second day of the Congress included four discussion panels as well as a presentation of SCAN 3D. The panels during the second day began with “Smart Point”, as part of which experts discussed the topics of IT in ports and terminals, port 4.0, maritime ports in the cloud, digital twins, 5G, IoT, and AI. This was followed by a discussion on the safety of ports and shipping lanes. A panel called “Offshore Wind” talked about OWE as a driving force behind the growth of ports and terminals. The last topic considered at the Congress was “Local Content”, namely the impact of the development of ports on the economy, cities, and coastal regions, as well as their influence on the labour market and education sector. The Polish Ports Congress came to a close following workshops dedicated to ESG (Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance) at ports, terminals, and in shipping.