The Sustainable Developments of the Port Industries Within the South Baltic Region-a Comparative Case Study Approach

Abstract

This comparative study refers to five ports of the South Baltic Region, namely Rostock (Mecklenburg - Vorpommem, D), the port complex of Szczecin and Świnouj­ście (West Pomerania, PL), ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia (Pomerania, PL) and Klaipeda (Klaipeda District LT). The ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia and the port of Rostock seem to be undergoing sustainable development while the port of Szczecin and Świnoujście needs improvements in the market share, while the port ofKlaipeda needs reinforcement of the inplace port industry (a number of companies and employment). Both containers and the ro-ro traffic are labour-saving characterized by raising efficiency that in tum makes the labour elasticity low and does not induce a noticeable number of jobs. There is, how­ever, an exception such as in the case of Gdańsk and Gdynia, when the port throughput allows and creates incentives for the development of port-related logistics services and employment.

Keywords

• port industries
• sustainable development
• employment