The MSC Rose has called at Gdańsk’s Baltic Hub terminal, becoming the first container ship to arrive at the Polish port as part of MSC’s new Britannia Service. This marks a milestone in the growing handling capacity of the new T3 berth, which, although set to officially open later this year, is already seeing test vessel calls.

MSC Rose (IMO 9957359) is not the first deep-sea container ship to call at Baltic Hub. On March 30, MSC Stacey (IMO 9954759), a neopanamax container ship arriving from Asia, berthed there as part of ongoing testing of the new terminal, which is slated for official launch in late September 2025. Earlier, in February, the first test call was made by the container ship CMA CGM Tivoli (IMO 9961312), which included trial cargo handling.

According to the plan, Baltic Hub T3 will be dedicated to container handling and storage. The yard covers 36 hectares and features a deep-water quay that is 717 meters long and 18 meters deep — sufficient for the world’s largest, 400-meter-long container ships. The investment, worth approximately PLN 2 billion, is being executed by general contractor Budimex.

MSC Rose, which called at Baltic Hub, is one of the newest vessels in the Swiss-Italian shipping giant MSC’s fleet. The ship measures 364 meters in length and 51 meters in width and can carry up to 15,294 TEU. Built at HD Hyundai Samho shipyard in Yeongam, South Korea, MSC Rose is the first to arrive under the Britannia Service. This new connection is part of MSC’s effort to replace the retiring SWAN-SENTOSA service with two new Asia–Europe routes leading to Polish ports. The second new service is the Albatros Service, which also includes the Port of Gdańsk.

Following MSC Rose, the next ship scheduled to arrive under the new service is MSC Maura (IMO 9962536), which is expected to call on April 16 under the Albatros Service.

The full opening of T3 is planned for the end of September this year. This major development will create a safer, more modern, and efficient work environment. As part of the project, a 36-hectare artificial island has been constructed to house a new maneuvering and storage yard. Once operational, T3 will boost Baltic Hub’s annual handling capacity by 1.5 million TEU — raising the total to 4.5 million TEU. In 2024, the terminal handled 2,242,401 TEU, up by 191,588 TEU compared to the previous year.

Baltic Hub continues to serve long-established routes such as AEU1/LL1/FAL5/NE1 operated by the Ocean Alliance (CMA CGM, OOCL, COSCO SHIPPING, Evergreen), as well as FAL1 operated by France’s CMA CGM. According to Baltic Hub, the expansion of service networks and strong client relationships are key to reinforcing its role as the “main trade gateway” for Central and Eastern Europe.

There has been notable commentary surrounding the discontinuation of the AE10 route serviced by Maersk’s ocean-going vessels. However, the Port of Gdańsk Authority has emphasized that while these large ships may no longer call at the port, smaller feeder vessels will continue shuttle operations, particularly on the Wilhelmshaven–Bremerhaven–Gdańsk corridor.