Inauguration of the Port of Gdynia Jubilee Exhibition at the University of Gdansk

The decision taken one hundred years ago to build a sea port at Gdynia allowed bold visions to become reality and the creation of a modern and competitive Port, which to this day continues to stimulate the development of the city of Gdynia and the entire region.

An important element of the Port’s operation in its immediate surroundings is its participation in conferences and scientific events. The fruit of cooperation between the Port of Gdynia Authority S.A. and the Faculty of Economics of the UG was the seminar entitled “Development of the maritime economy. Seminar on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the Port of Gdynia’, which was held on 23 November at the Faculty of Economics of the UG in Sopot. The seminar’s participants were welcomed by Monika Bąk, Ph.D., UG Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the UG, and Kazimierz Koralewski – Vice President of the Management Board of Port of Gdynia Authority S.A.

The Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Monika Bąk, Ph.D., emphasised in her speech: “The Faculty of Economics of the University of Gdansk has been connected with the maritime economy since its inception, and in fact it was established on the basis of education for the needs of the maritime economy and the Pomeranian region as a continuation of the tradition of the Higher School of Maritime Trade established in 1946. At present, our study programmes include many specialisations that relate to the maritime theme, such as Logistics or the English-language specialisation Logistics and Mobility, but two specialisations should be mentioned as relating to this area in a special way. The first is International Maritime Transport and Trade, offered at both first- and second-degree level, is a specialisation with long-standing traditions and particularly intensive cooperation with Tricity seaports. The second is a unique specialisation, offered from this year onwards, Maritime Offshore Sectors, which has received the patronage of several institutions and where key issues related to the development of offshore wind energy and other maritime sectors will be addressed.”

In his speech, Vice President of the Management Board Kazimierz Koralewski drew attention to the perspective of 100 years of development of the Port of Gdynia and the assumptions concerning development activities in the near future: “We are aware that the achievements of our predecessors are at the same time our obligation to set new goals, necessary to strengthen the role of the Port of Gdynia among the ports of the Baltic Sea. The ongoing work on updating the port’s development strategy and the million-dollar investments continuing in the port confirm our readiness to take concrete action.”

In his presentation Dr Tomasz Nowosielski, assistant professor at the Department of Transport and Maritime Trade at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Gdansk, outlined issues concerning the essence and evolution of the concept of maritime economy and its components. Particular attention was paid to issues related to the functioning of maritime shipping and the role of seaports, which form a global transport system. He also presented activities related to the introduction of the concept of sustainable development, which are intended to reduce the impact of ship and seaport operations on the environment.

Then, Mr Mateusz Kubicki, an employee of the Branch Historical Research Office of the Institute of National Remembrance Branch in Gdansk and a doctoral student at the Faculty of History of the University of Gdansk, talked about the establishment of the Polish maritime economy after Poland regained independence and the place of this economy in the hierarchy of the country’s economic structure. Referring to the content of an exhibition starting on the day of the seminar at the Faculty of Economics of UG, depicting the 100-year history of the Port of Gdynia, he emphasised its role as an extraordinary work of the inter-war period. The speech included a historical account of the development of the port, from the inter-war period and the development of Gdynia, through the period after 1945 and the communist era, as well as the changes after 1989.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Magdalena Markiewicz, Deputy Dean of the UG Faculty of Economics for Development and Cooperation with the Socio-Economic Environment.

The seminar part was followed by the opening of a jubilee exhibition on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the Port of Gdynia. The exhibition has an educational character – it shows the development of port handling technologies, the history and transformation of Gdynia’s port facilities, the people working in the port and the magic of this place, to which many Gdynia residents, and not only, have connected their professional lives.