Polferries at the Westerplatte Ferry Terminal
8 May 2015 was the first time that the Wawel ferry docked at the Westerplatte Ferry Terminal to be loaded the next day for its 18:00 cruise to Nynashamn.
According to PGA press release, the change of location for the ships' calls was partially dictated by the decision of Polferries to sell the Scandinavia ferry which had been in operation so far and transfer the Waweі ferry from its current Swinoujscie - Ystad route to the Gdansk-Nynashamn route. The parameters of the new larger unit made it necessary to offer the shipowner another suitable call location at the Port of Gdansk. The Wawel ferry boat is in fact almost 20 meters longer than the Scandinavia which had previously serviced this route. The new ferry differs from its predecessor in other parameters as well, including the load line which is twice as long and the number of passengers that can be carried. The Wawel ferry is designed to service 1,000 passengers at a time.
The Westerplatte Ferry Terminal is far more modern than the existing ferry terminal, which was built in 2002. It offers areas designed to handle larger ships than the ferry base at the Ziolkowski Quay. Another definite advantage of the Westerplatte Ferry Terminal, especially for Ro-Ro customers travelling on the Gdansk-Nynashamn route loads, is its location just off Trasa Sucharskiego, which provides the smooth and relatively traffic-free feeder service of cargo to and from the terminal towards the south of Poland. In this way, cargo may be transported further by the suspension bridge towards the southern ring road with access to national route number 7 in the direction of Warsaw and the A1 motorway.
In a few weeks a new tunnel under the Dead Vistula will be put into operation, offering an efficient feeder service towards the north of the region as well.
Over the last few years the terminal was used mainly to handle passenger ships. Redirecting ferry traffic from the Ziolkowski Quay to the Westerplatte Ferry Terminal, however, will not affect the holiday traffic service. Passenger ships will continue to dock at Westerplatte, since Polferries will only operate in one of the three available parts of the quay, next to the passenger terminal building.
Polferries would like to make it clear that the change only applies to the location of the ferry calls. For the time being, no changes in the frequency of service are planned, which currently stands at 3-4 times a week from Gdansk.
