OREANDA-NEWS. December 07, 2010. Neither the exceptionally long winter of 2009/2010, nor the dockers' strikes in Finland threatened the planned accomplishment of works relating to construction of the upper ramp of ro-ro stand at the Romanian Quay of the Port of Gdynia. The ribbon-cutting ceremony which symbolizes handing over to use of the new two-levelled ro-ro stand at the Port of Gdynia took place on 1st December 2010.

The Stand is a part of the large investment undertaking of the Port of Gdynia Authority SA titled "Development of Port Infrastructure for Servicing Ro-Ro Vessels, with Road and Railway Access in the Port of Gdynia", for the implementation of which the Port of Gdynia Authority SA will apply for subsidies from the European Union. The ro-pax type ship of the Finnish ship-owner Finnlines was the first to call at Gdynia within the newly opened passengers and cargo service Helsinki-Gdynia- Travemunde (at present to Rostock) exactly on the 3rd of June last year. By the end of 2009 around 19.000 passengers used this connection.

It has been the project of a great developmental potential which already visibly transformed the port's landscape. The upper ramp of ro-ro stand in the corner of Romanian and Czech Quays funded by the Port of Gdynia Authority SA has become this landscape's permanent part for several last months. The new stand for accommodation of the ro-ro vessels in the corner of Romanian and Czech Quays will provide handling of Finnlines STAR type vessels. The design works and then the construction and assembly works covered the modernisation of the lower part of facility and construction of the upper ro-ro ramp. In addition the works were to reinforce the bottom and rebuild the fender-mooring line in the Romanian Quay. The design works were commenced in January this year. The upper ramp construction was purchased from the Helsinki port in old serviceable condition. Disassembly of the ramp that weighted over 800 tones and its transportation from Helsinki was accomplished within the period from February to April by the Port Technical Company SA. From the moment the ramp was brought to the Port in Gdynia the continuous works on the steel structures commenced in order to adapt it to our needs.

The on site construction works began in August - that is, immediately after obtaining the building permit. Company "Hydromega" from Gdynia is the General Contractor - the same company that built the upper ramp few years ago used for handling Stena Line ferries at the Hel Quay II. The main subcontractors of the design works and construction-assembly works were: "Biuro Projektow Wuprohyd" (design office), "Biuro Projektow Specbud" (design office), "Hydrobudowa Gdaсsk", "PRPiH Marinex", "Stabilator" and "P.P. SIEЖ" companies. Handling operations of Finnlines vessels were moved to "B" ramp at the United States Quay  due to carried out works. The commissioning works and operational trials involving mooring of the ship began at the beginning of November. The new ro-ro stand constitutes a significant element in the development of the concept of the network of Sea Motorways , in which the port of Gdynia plays an important part. This role is important due to the fact that apart from providing the connection to Finland and Germany, it has been providing Gdynia - Karlskrona ferry connection of the Stena Line ferry operator for over 15 years.