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railway facilities are being intensive- ly expanded each year. To date, there are more than 100 miles of railway tracks in the port, while tran- sit traffic through Gdynia to Rus- sia, Rumania, Hungary and other Central European countries has al- ready started. Among the important railway lines between Gdynia and the hinterland are those connecting the Polish seaport with Berlin, Pome- rania, Danzig, Warsaw, Russia and Rumanian stations, the Czechoslo- vakian border and German Upper Silesia. By freight train, Gdynia is only 54 hours from Russia, 37 hours from Czechoslovakia, 67 hours from Rumania and a few hours from Ger- many. The new railway from Up- per Silesia to the Baltic, which as- sures Poland’s economic freedom by connecting Poland directly with the industrial centers of Europe, will prove of incalculable value. Forty Regular Lines Despite the fact that Gdynia is the youngest of world ports the develop- ment of its sea connections is al- ready considerable. It has 40 regu- lar lines and connections with 120 American and European ports, Most recent of these connections was the opening of regular service between Gdynia and the ports of the Far East, among others Penang, Port Swetten- ham, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shang- hai, Kobe and Yokohama. Ships leave for New York every fortnight, for Buenos Aires every six weeks, for Le Havre every ten days, for Helsing- fors every two weeks, for London and Hull every week, for Riga and Tallinn every ten days, for Libau every fortnight and for the Far East every three weeks. In response to the demand for Jewish emigrants to Palestine, the Gdynia-America line recently established a steamship serv- ice from Constanza, Rumania to Haifa and Jaffa, Palestine. As a maritime center, Gdynia has already had ample experience in coping with a wide variety of cargo and in meeting the needs of ship traffic generally. Today, there are 23 forwarding firms in the port, 10 ships’ brokerage firms and 4 shipowning firms. There is a total of 24 sheds and warehouses, with a joint storage area of about 1,614,000 square feet, about one- third of which belongs to private warehousing and forwarding firms. The Port’s Free Zone Among the many factors which have been attracting commerce to the new port has been the establishment of a free customs zone. Brought into practical use on Jan. 15 of this year by the receipt of the first cargo to be warehoused there, the zone con- sists as yet of Minister Kwiatkowski’s basin, close by the American, Czech- oslovakian and Rumanian wharves, and the adjacent territory. The to- tal area today is about 99 acres, of which about 37 acres is water space and about 62 acres land. The area of the free zone can be increased at will. Three large warehouses have been constructed for the storage and han- dling of goods in the free customs zone, These include a cotton ware- MARINE REvIEw—October, 1934 Above—Wharf of the oil mill at the port of Gdynia with ocean going vessel alongside At left—Passenger vessel alongside dock adjacent to the new railroad station at Gdunia house and two warehouses for other cargoes, Among the more important articles stored in the zone for later transit or re-export are raw mate- rials for textiles, such as cotton, jute, and wool; raw hides and tannins, raw material for foundries, raw ma- terial for the manufacture of fertii- izer, Finnish, Swedish and Czechoslo- vakian paper and a large number of colonial products. Goods stored in the free customs zone and not sub- ject to customs control can be exhib- ited at any moment to clients, and importers are at liberty to accept or- ders and adapt their goods to the re- quirements of the market or custom- er in question. This is expected to result in a lively commerce in the free customs zone. At the same time, a number of industries are expected to spring up in the area, particularly for the manufacture of products from raw material. Among them will be such industries as coffee roasting, tanning work, the cleaning and pre- paring of wool, canneries, ete. By the freedom of import which it allows, the free zone is doing much to enhance the importance of Gdynia as a center of international trade. It constitutes a trade route junction from which goods can be re-exported to other ports falling within Gdynia’s sphere of influence. Already Lith- uania, Finland, Latvia, Hungary, Hsthonia and other countries have hastened to avail themselves of Gdy- nia’s free zone facilities. Czechoslo- vakia has made Gdynia its official port, exporters and importers shift- ing their routes to take advantage of facilities there. Czechoslovak trade through Gdynia, last year was more than four times that of the year before. Bata, the world famous shoe manufacturing concern, constructed a warehouse at Gdynia, and other (Continued on Page 38) 21