Poland’s new shipping canal near Russia will boost local business: official

Local business is expected to flourish after Poland launched a new canal to the Baltic Sea to allow ships to avoid Russian waters.

The new shipping canal cuts across the Vistula Spit and is designed to allow ships to enter the Polish port of Elbląg without passing through the Strait of Baltiysk in Russia's Kaliningrad region, according to officials.

Photo: PAP/Adam Warżawa

The opening was held at the weekend to coincide with the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland in 1939.

“We saw global supply chains heavily jammed during the pandemic as a result of globalisation," says Marek Grzybowski, chief of the Baltic Sea and Space Cluster.

"Now, this canal was built with the intention to have production based locally. For the time being, it will allow ships with a 2-metre draught and then when business starts booming in the area, other types of vessels would be accepted."

Michał Owczarek reports...

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