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sandy bottoms, is safe and conveni- ent under all conditions, and there are no rocks or other obstacles to navigation. The largest liners find the port easily accessible as the wa- ter in the entrance roads ranges from 30 to 45 feet in depth, Compared with a number of other Baltic ports, Gdynia has the advan- tage that even during a very severe winter, it can be kept open to navi- gation, the harbor rarely freezing over. Even when frozen, it can be made accessible by means of ice breakers. The navigational equip- ment of the port includes a radio- beacon, a submarine oscillator, a pen- dulum oscillator, and a submarine oscillation used only during thick fog or snow storms, Advantages of Gdynia’s Location Situated on the southern coast of the Baltic, Gdynia lies at practically the same distance from a number of important Baltic ports such as Stock- holm, Riga and Copenhagen. While it is the northern outlet of the routes from Poland, at the same time it is the geographical center of transit routes from the Scandinavian coun- tries. Since a seaport is valuable in direct proportion to the hinterland it serves, Gdynia’s importance lies in the fact that the port taps some sey- en inland countries with a population equal to that of the United States east of the Mississippi. All geograp- ic, economic and technical consider- ations point to Gdynia as destined to play a dominant role as a transit port in the fiow of trade from the entire Slavonic economic area. Its position at the central northern point of central and eastern Europe en- ables it to take an important part in the trade between England, the Scan- dinavian and Baltic states, and the Near East; for serving, indeed, as a link on the routes Baltic-Black sea, Baltic-Aegaen and Baltic Adriatic. Its favorable location has made of Gydnia a center both of railway-mari- time and of pure maritime transit. In pure maritime transit, Gdynia fills the role of trans-shipment port, tak- ing in certain goods to be re-trans- [he transformation, within the past ten years, of a fishing hamlet on the southwest shore of the Baltic to a well equipped modern seaport is one of the outstanding maritime develop- ments in recent times. After securing an outlet to the sea the government of Poland with great energy and determination has made the most of it with the result that Gdynia is now an important factor in world com- merce, and of high economic value to the nation. Since it was planned as a whole it was possible to take full advantage -of modern experience in port equipment and development. en ported by sea. The basis of this transit trade is the industrial output of the Baltic states, which sell their surplus products in the Mediterran- ean and Levantine ports. Among these products are paper, cellulose, pasteboard and paper products. In Above — Elec- trically oper- ated cranes for cargo handling at the port of Gdynia At, left — En- CY ance to Gdynia harbor. breakwater and radiobeacon sta- tion ® MARINE REviEw—October, 1934 the railway-maritime transit traffic, industrial Czechoslovakia is of great- est importance, while trade with Rou- mania, the Levant, Yugoslavia, Hun- gary and the Baltic ports continues to increase each month. With So- viet Russia, too, Polish transit trade has been developing in tar, ore, oil, whale oil, corn, timber and other products. Ports Physical Characteristics Gdynia is composed of an outer harbor and an inner harbor connected by a common outer basin to which the main entrance from the sea leads. The outer harbor, built by excava- tion, includes the outer basin, the south basin, the coal basin and the president’s basin. The inner harbor, which is formed by the wharves, in- cludes the port canal, Marshall Pil- sudski’s basin and the second basin. Access to the inner harbor is avail- able through two entrances in the outer basin. The main entrance canal is 40 feet deep, while the Presi- dent’s basin and the south basin have separate entrances directly from the sea and vary from 30 to 50 feet in depth. The outer basin, in addi- tion to the water space bounded by the breakwater on the side of the sea, and by the wharf on the west, includes also the north basin, used by the navy, and the coal basin. The passenger pier, which is 1312 feet long and 391 feet wide, is located to the south of the entrance canal. North of this pier is French wharf, which is also able to handle passen- ger traffic. An indication of how world-wide has been the acceptance of Gdynia is evidenced by the names of some of the wharfs: Wilson, Eng- lish, Silesian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Belgian, French, Rotterdam, Indian, Norwegian, American, Czecho-Slovak- ian, Roumanian. The entire export of Polish coal is handled at the coal basin, next to the passenger pier. The best equipped wharf in the area is the Swedish, which has a crane for handling coal wagons with a capacity of 445 tons 19