Gdynia Maritime Agency – 75 years
Michał Śmigielski, President of the Gdynia Maritime Agency, Krzysztof Laskowski, and Marta Królak, memebers of the Gdynia Maritime Agency Board, interview by Marek Grzybowski, President of the Baltic Sea and Space Cluster.
Marek Grzybowski: On January 1, 1951, a new company appeared on the Polish maritime map – the Gdynia Maritime Agency (MAG). Ports were still being rebuilt, but maritime trade was already developing. The first Polish ship built at the Gdańsk Shipyard, the S/S Sołdek, sailed into the Baltic Sea. The agency’s operations were launched based on existing companies and staff. What were the origins of the company, which for many years focused its activities in the Tricity ports?
Michał Śmigielski, President of the Gdynia Maritime Agency: The establishment of the Gdynia Maritime Agency was a response to the realities of the first years after the war: ports were still being rebuilt, and maritime trade needed uniform service principles. As part of the reorganization of the maritime sector, a decision of April 1, 1950, initiated a process of changes, and on December 28, 1950, the Minister of Shipping signed an order establishing new state-owned enterprises, including the Maritime Agency in Gdynia. MAG began operations on January 1, 1951.
MAG did not start from scratch. It took over the tasks, assets, and personnel of companies such as Gama, Agmor, Navigator, Rummel & Burton, and partially Baltica and the pre-war Polish Maritime Agency, and the first few months were spent organizing and standardizing procedures, documentation, and records. The entire process was coordinated by the Organizational Committee of the Morska Agencja PPW enterprise in Gdynia, and the organizational chart was approved on January 20, 1951.
It is no coincidence that MAG concentrated its activities in the Tricity ports for years – port traffic and key operations were concentrated there, so the Agency had to operate close to the port. Initially, operations were held in several locations in Gdynia, in the former headquarters of companies incorporated into MAG, including Derdowskiego and Starowiejska Streets. The first port office in Gdynia was located at Warehouse No. 1 at the Marine Station, and later at the Marine Station itself on Polska Street (today’s Emigration Museum); port offices operated in parallel in Gdańsk (probably 18 Zamknięta Street), Darłowo, and Ustka. Full consolidation took place on July 15, 1953, at 3 Rotterdamska Street.
The turning point came in 1955, when MAG finalized key agreements with the Polish Ocean Lines (PLO) and Polish Steamship Company (PŻM), which required organizational adjustments and the establishment of the Polish Ships Section. And here lies the most important “human” dimension of these beginnings: the core of the team was formed by practitioners who knew the port craft inside and out – some of whom entered the profession before the war or in direct continuity with pre-war vocational training. As a result, MAG acquired not only people and assets but also tradition, work standards, and ship service culture, becoming a continuator of the competencies built by the maritime community over decades. Today, these beginnings are well documented thanks to interviews with former employees (including those previously associated with Navigator) and research in state archives.
Marek Grzybowski: Over the past 75 years, Morska Agencja Gdynia has transitioned from a command-and-control economy to a market economy. During this time, there has been a complete reshuffle of personnel and the expansion of operations into new functions and markets. The war in Ukraine, customs wars, and global disruptions on maritime and land routes are radically changing the operations of agency companies and freight forwarders. Customers are posing new challenges to companies operating in the maritime and land transport markets. What strategic goals does MAG’s management set for the coming years? What is the company’s mission today?
Michał Śmigielski: The market in which we operate is changing so rapidly that sometimes within a month we have to change plans for the following days and weeks. Turbulence in the shipping markets, caused by various factors, is so frequent that it is sometimes difficult to define goals for a given six-month period. We strive to be flexible and make decisions that will allow us to stand out in various segments of the maritime and land logistics market. We are focusing on the development of warehouse logistics in various parts of Poland. We have opened an office in Lithuania and recently invested in handling equipment, which allows us to remain highly competitive. The growing offshore wind energy sector is certainly an important market for us. It currently receives a strong media presence in Poland, but it is a very difficult and demanding market, especially with strong competition from foreign companies. We have already achieved some success in this market sector, having served the Svanen installation unit in Gdynia during the construction of Baltic Power’s first offshore wind farm. We are also involved in further Polish projects in the Baltic Sea. These include logistics-related projects as well as other projects related to the installation of auxiliary infrastructure for offshore wind farm construction. Therefore, we can say that our new challenge is to maximize the local content in the construction of Polish offshore wind farms.
