A new channel connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdańsk is to be launched on Saturday (17 September), even though it is currently unfinished.
The Vistula Spit canal is to be opened on the anniversary of the Soviet attack on Poland in 1939, which the government will be willing to use as a symbol of the country giving up its dependence on Russia.
With the canal launch, Poland will break with Russia’s domination in the region, the Polish government insists. Ships will get access to all ports of the Vistula Lagoon, and the seaport in Elbląg, and new development opportunities will open up for Elbląg, Warmia and the whole of Eastern Poland.
“Thanks to the Vistula Spit dug-through, Poland will gain a waterway which connects the Vistula Lagoon with the Baltic Sea and is independent of Russia. The canal will ensure Poland is safe and sovereign,” said the government in a statement, quoted by Money.pl
While experts warn that opening an unfinished waterway poses a risk to the vessels that will use it, the opening ceremony organisers have long been looking for a captain who “proves brave enough” to cross the canal first, Wirtualna Polska news portal earlier reported.
Eventually, a volunteer was found, according to Business Insider Poland. Zodiak II will be the pioneer in the new waterway.
“I hope it will not come through. Such a demonstrational passage comes with a risk of an image disaster if the barge, sailing along an unmarked route, ran aground,” Daniel Kotur, a captain with 20 years of experience, told Wirtualna Polska.
The total length of the waterway from the Gulf of Gdańsk through the Vistula Lagoon to Elbląg is almost 23 km. The canal and the entire fairway will be 5 m deep.