Ships will have access to all ports of the Vistula Lagoon and the seaport in Elbląg.

Poland intends to open a new water channel connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdansk. Euractiv reports it.

The channel is scheduled to open on the anniversary of the Soviet attack on Poland in 1939, which the government will use as a symbol of the country's renunciation of dependence on Russia.

Ships will have access to all ports in the Vistula Lagoon and the seaport in Elbląg, and new development opportunities will open up for Elbląg, Warmia, and all of Eastern Poland.

"Thanks to the digging of the Vistula Spit, Poland will receive a waterway connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Baltic Sea and independent of Russia. The canal will ensure the security and sovereignty of Poland," the government said in a statement.

At the same time, experts warn that opening the unfinished waterway poses a danger to the ships that will use it.

Canal construction:

The total length of the waterway from the Gulf of Gdansk through the Vistula Lagoon to Elbląg is almost 23 km. The channel and the entire fairway will have a depth of 5 m.

The government has not completed its investments. The deepened channel ends 900 m from the port in Elbląg. This means it can make life easier for sailors, but no large ship can simply enter the port. The Warsaw authorities claim that the local government is responsible for the rest of the investment.