A huge threat to Gdansk: "time bombs" are laid in the port

The port of Gdansk is at serious risk, and in the worst case, half of the city could disappear, as reported by the website wnp.pl The port is constantly receiving materials that can cause enormous damage. Among them are artificial fertilizers, which are not subject to proper protection.

On September 12, a meeting of the parliamentary group on the chemical industry was held. Not only imports, which harm domestic producers due to dumping prices, but also the safety of transportation were discussed. Most importantly, the bulk import of fertilizers to Gdansk poses a serious threat to the security of the port and the city.

"Such large volumes of fertilizers in bulk are practically time bombs. And if thousands of tons of fertilizers arrive at ports on ships, this is a serious threat in the context of the current situation," explained Dr. Tomasz Zelinsky, President of the Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry.

We are talking about thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate, which is used not only as fertilizer, but also as an explosive, for example, in the mining industry and construction. They arrive in Gdansk in bulk and are only repacked there. Currently, an American cargo ship with 30,000 tons of this substance is heading to the port.

Repackaging does not happen instantly, and the cargo can even be stored in the port for a long time. If there had been an explosion, the damage would have been enormous.

"Imagine an accident, sabotage or even a terrorist attack. If such a large amount of ammonium nitrate explodes, not only the port, but also the city itself will be destroyed," said Shimon Domagalsky, adviser on regulatory issues.

The panic in the expert environment is associated with a gap in the rules that allows fertilizers to be stored in bulk during transportation. This means lower costs for the importer, since he does not need to deal with packaging, and loading and unloading become easier and cheaper. The rule change, which will introduce such a requirement, is also important for competition, since Polish fertilizer companies pack their products.

The tragedy in Lebanon has demonstrated that such a threat is quite real. On August 4, 2020, an explosion of ammonium nitrate stored there occurred in the port of the country's capital, Beirut. The explosion destroyed not only the port, but also a significant part of the city. 218 people were killed, many thousands were injured. However, there were more similar incidents. The explosion of 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate in Texas City in 1947 led to the death of 581 people, and the shock wave knocked out windows within a radius of 65 km from the epicenter. A fire and explosion in Tianjin (China) in 2015 led to the death of 173 people. A year ago, in Bororena (Australia), one person died as a result of the explosion of a truck trailer carrying 42 tons of ammonium nitrate.