Why Gdańsk Has Become the Region's Leading Logistics Hub

Just ten to fifteen years ago, the main container flows from Asia to Europe were primarily associated with Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, and other ports in Northern Europe. For cargo bound for Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, or Ukraine, this meant an additional overland leg or the need to transship containers for onward transport eastward.

Today, Gdańsk has significantly reshaped this logistics landscape. The port has become one of the key transportation hubs in the Baltic region and Central and Eastern Europe. In 2025, the port handled 80.4 million metric tons of cargo, and container throughput approached 2.8 million TEU, an increase of 23% over the year. In terms of total cargo throughput, Gdańsk rose to 8th place among European ports.

But it’s not just about volume. Gdańsk has become a logistics hub thanks to a combination of a deep-water terminal, direct ocean routes, rail infrastructure, and convenient access to the markets of Central and Eastern Europe.

The Baltic Hub has transformed Gdańsk’s role

A key element of the container infrastructure is the Baltic Hub. It should not be confused with the entire Port of Gdańsk: the Port of Gdańsk is a large port complex handling various types of cargo, while the Baltic Hub specializes in containers.

The turning point came in 2010, when Gdańsk began regularly receiving container ships from the Far East. This allowed some cargo from Asia to travel directly to the Baltic Sea without the need for transshipment at a Western European port.

Today, the Baltic Hub is capable of handling the largest container ships with a capacity of over 24,000 TEU. In 2025, the third deep-water berth, T3—717 meters long and 17.5 meters deep—was commissioned. Along with it, the terminal gained an additional 36 hectares of container yard space, and its total throughput capacity increased to approximately 4.5 million TEU per year.

This is important for the market not just in and of itself. The higher the terminal’s capacity, the more opportunities shipping lines have to establish regular services, and the more opportunities cargo owners have to build stable supply chains through Gdańsk.

Direct connections with Asia are one of the main advantages

Today, Gdańsk is connected by regular container services to major Asian ports, including Shanghai, Ningbo, Qingdao, Xiamen, Yantian, and others. As a result, a logical route has emerged for shipping cargo from China:

China → Gdańsk → Central Europe / Ukraine.

After unloading, a container can continue its journey by truck or rail. It is precisely the availability of multiple options for onward delivery that distinguishes a full-fledged logistics hub from a standard maritime transshipment point.

For example, a container carrying equipment for a Ukrainian company can arrive in Gdańsk, after which it can be sent directly by truck to Ukraine or incorporated into a rail route. But there’s an important caveat here: the existence of a direct ocean route doesn’t necessarily mean that the route via Gdańsk will automatically be the cheapest. In container logistics, you have to consider the entire supply chain.

Why You Can’t Just Compare Ocean Freight Rates

One of the most common mistakes when choosing a route is to compare two ocean freight rates and select the lower one.

Let’s say shipping a container to one port costs $300 less. But upon arrival, it turns out that the nearest available train departs in a week, whereas via another port, the container can be shipped in two days. The savings on the ocean leg quickly disappear due to storage, container equipment usage, and additional terminal charges.

Therefore, we recommend calculating the cost of transportation not “to the port,” but from the shipper’s door to the consignee’s door. The total cost must include:

• ocean freight;
• terminal handling;
• free time;
• storage;
• rail or truck delivery;
• customs clearance;
• possible demurrage and detention;
• return of empty containers.

This is precisely why the cost of ocean freight may be lower, while the total logistics cost may be higher.

The railroad has made Gdańsk a full-fledged hub

The container terminal is capable of handling a huge volume of cargo, but after unloading, the containers must be quickly moved out of the port. This is where rail plays a crucial role. In 2025, Baltic Hub handled 9,362 rail trains. A typical flowchart looks like this:

ship → Baltic Hub → train → inland terminal → truck → consignee.

Rail delivery is particularly advantageous for large shipments of containers. Instead of arranging dozens of individual trucks, a significant portion of the shipment can be sent on a single rail train. However, rail transport has a fundamental limitation: the schedule.

The container must be unloaded from the ship, processed by the terminal, and ready for shipment by a specific time. If the ship is delayed and the cargo misses the scheduled train, the initial calculation may no longer be valid.

And this is not a theoretical risk. In January 2026, due to severe weather conditions, Baltic Hub temporarily restricted additional rail slots and subsequently imposed capacity limits on rail operations. For a logistics professional, situations like this mean one thing: there must always be an alternative to the primary transportation plan.

Why the route sometimes has to be changed after the cargo arrives

Let’s consider a real-world scenario. A shipment of containers is coming from Asia via Gdańsk. After unloading, the containers are scheduled to be transported by rail to Ukraine.

The ship is delayed. The scheduled train departs. The next departure is in a few days. You could simply wait. But every day of waiting must be converted into monetary terms.

When does the free time end? How much will storage cost? Is there a guaranteed spot on the next train? Is it possible to pick up the containers by truck? How much will changing the route cost?

Sometimes, the more expensive option of road transport turns out to be cheaper than waiting for the train. And sometimes it makes sense to transport the containers by truck to another terminal and then ship them by train from there.

At first glance, this complicates the shipment. In practice, this option can reduce total costs by thousands of euros. This is especially true when dealing not with a single container, but with a shipment of 10–20 units. If additional costs are charged per container on a daily basis, a single lost day must be multiplied by the number of containers in the shipment.

This is precisely why professional container logistics involves not only the ability to plan a route in advance, but also the ability to quickly adjust it.

Gdańsk or Gdynia—Which Is Better for Ukraine

These ports are located close to each other, so they are sometimes mistakenly viewed as nearly interchangeable. In practice, choosing a port based solely on geography is incorrect.

For a specific shipment, Gdynia may offer more favorable ocean freight rates, but Gdańsk provides more convenient rail connections. In another situation, the opposite would be true.

We would compare at least the following: the cost of the ocean leg, the vessel’s ETA, free time, terminal charges, availability of rail service, the cost of road transport, and the total delivery time to Ukraine. Only then would we make a decision.

In other words, the right question isn’t “Which is cheaper, Gdańsk or Gdynia?” but rather: through which port is it cheaper and more reliable to deliver a specific shipment to the final recipient? These are fundamentally different approaches.

Gdańsk and Ukraine: Why This Route Is Especially Interesting Right Now

For Ukrainian imports, Gdańsk effectively serves as a maritime gateway to Central Europe. Through it, shipments from China, South Korea, and other Asian countries can be routed, using road, rail, or multimodal transport for the onward leg.

At the same time, it’s important to understand that the distance from the port to Ukraine is just one factor. Far more important is how well the ship, terminal, train, truck, and container utilization schedules are synchronized with one another. In practice, an effective logistics scheme might look like this:

Asia → Gdańsk → rail → Ukraine.

But if the schedule changes:

Asia → Gdańsk → truck → Ukraine.

Or:

Asia → Gdańsk → another Polish terminal → rail → Ukraine.

Good logistics begins when you have the option to choose between several scenarios, rather than being dependent on a single route.

What Risks Should Be Considered

Gdańsk’s scale does not rule out operational risks.

• First—changes to the vessel’s ETA. A shipping schedule should not be viewed as absolutely fixed.
• Second—railway windows. If a container misses a train, the next departure can significantly alter the timeline.
• Third—free time. As long as the container is moving according to plan, this factor often goes unnoticed. When a delay occurs, it begins to directly impact the budget.
• Fourth—demurrage and detention. The terms vary depending on the carrier and the specific booking, so they must be verified before shipping the cargo, not after the costs have been incurred.
• Fifth—return of the empty container. After unloading, the container must be returned to the location agreed upon by the carrier and within the specified timeframe. This also affects the overland leg and the final cost.

Therefore, international container shipping requires monitoring not only of the vessel’s movement but of the entire supply chain until the equipment is returned.

Why Gdańsk’s Role Will Continue to Grow

The figures show that Gdańsk’s growth is driven by more than just infrastructure plans. In 2025, the port handled 80.4 million metric tons of cargo, and container throughput grew by 23%—to nearly 2.8 million TEU.

Following the launch of T3, the Baltic Hub’s capacity increased to 4.5 million TEU per year. And the growth continues. In the first half of 2026, the Port of Gdańsk had already handled 41.7 million metric tons of cargo—9% more than a year earlier. General cargo increased by 17%, and the Baltic Hub handled 13.8 million metric tons—an 18% increase over the same period in 2025. This highlights the key point: Gdańsk is developing in two directions simultaneously—expanding its infrastructure capacity and increasing actual cargo volume.

Conclusion

Gdańsk has become one of the region’s main logistics hubs not simply because a large container terminal was built here. Its advantage lies in the combination of several elements: direct ocean shipping routes, the Baltic Hub, railways, road infrastructure, and its geographical proximity to the markets of Central and Eastern Europe.

For Ukrainian businesses, this provides additional options for organizing shipments from Asia and other regions of the world. But the port itself is only one part of the route.

In practice, the efficiency of transportation depends on how well the entire logistics chain—from the shipper to the recipient—is planned and whether there is a contingency plan in case of a ship delay, a missed train, or a change in the cost of onward delivery.

That is precisely why, when choosing between Gdańsk, Gdynia, or another European port, we recommend comparing more than just ocean freight rates. You need to compare the total cost, delivery time, and operational risks of the entire route. Only then will it become clear which port is truly more advantageous for a specific shipment.