Świnoujście challenges Hamburg

The road tunnel 10 meters under the bottom of Świna river was opened in June 2023 to connect the left-hand part of Świnoujście city (Uznam Isle) with the rest of Poland. It costed $ 225 million, including 85% of EU financing. Since the tunnel opening over a year ago it has been passed by 4.6 million vehicles, up to a dozen thousand a day. The Northern Economic Chamber of Szczecin reports that it has created enormous opportunities for the city’s port, industry, logistics and tourism. According to transport companies, the numbers of marine and land courses towards Świnoujście have been increasing all the time. Moreover, the city’s authorities have issued the location permit for the future container terminal to be constructed by 2029 within the port to significantly strengthen the latter’s competitive advantage over the German, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian markets, expected to generate $ 2b income per year and employ about a thousand people. Besides transport and logistics, Świnoujście is also one of the most attractive Polish all-year resorts and the tunnel has increased the inflow of tourists from Poland, Germany and Czechia. “A few years ago a statement that Świnoujście can challenge Hamburg would sound unreal. Now we can say this is within the range of our economic ideas” said Hanna Mojsiuk, President of Northern Economic Chamber.