Modernization of Szczecin Lagoon will go ahead – government ministry

Improvements to the large body of water that connects Szczecin to the port of Świnoujście should be made during the fiscal period 2014 to 2020, the Ministry of Maritime and Inland Waterway Transportation indicated in a press release on Wednesday. The work is vital to economic and national security, and will further develop deep sea ports in the area, the ministry intoned. There had been some speculation that funding for the modernization efforts would be delayed. However, this week’s approval of a draft law to proceed with the work, which primarily involves deepening the lagoon, indicates that it could begin soon after parliamentary approval. “Urgent implementation of the project is primarily due to the need to ensure sufficient depth and thus the safety of navigation on the fairway to Szczecin, which is not possible within the available, limited budgetary resources,” the news release read. The large lagoon, which joins the port of Szczecin to the Baltic Sea, currently has an average depth of between 4 and 5 metres. Planned dredging, the draft law indicates, would involve deepening the bay to about 12.5 metres, and cost nearly  PLN 1.39 billion.