The Vistula Spit is a heavily wooded sandbank 55 km (34 miles) long but less than 2 km wide which encloses a coastal lagoon. (Map 1).  Currently, the only access to the lagoon from the Baltic Sea is a channel at the Russian end of the spit. Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), deeply distrustful of Russia, says a canal is needed for both security and economic reasons.[1]. Defending the project, Poland’s minister for maritime affairs, Marek Grobarczyk, said: “The first and basic reason for the construction … is a threat from the east.” “This is the border of the EU, NATO, and above all of Poland, and it cannot really be controlled now because ships can only enter the Vistula Lagoon with Russia’s approval,”  adding that work would start in the second half of 2019.[1].

As reported in October 2019, the new route will connect the Bay of Gdańsk and the Vistula Lagoon. NDI will build the port, the canal with a lock and closures, as well as the artificial island on the Vistula Lagoon. According to the Maritime ministry, the new waterway will improve access to the port in Elbląg and open the way to the Baltic Sea from the Vistula Lagoon, bypassing the Russian-controlled Strait of Baltiysk. The Vistula Spit canal will have a five-metre depth and will be around one kilometre-long. It will enable the docking of vessels with up to a four-metre draft, 100 metres long and 20 metres wide.  The construction is to be finished by 2022 and cost PLN 992 mln (€ 229 mln). [2]. EU protests have been disregarded, as also Polish political and civil soiety opposition.          

Poland's governing party, the Law and Justice Party, are intensely distrustful of Russia and claim that the waterway is necessary for economic and security reasons.

The works include the construction of two breakwaters, a channel, two rotating bridges over the lock, four sluice gates, buildings, landscaping as well as the adjacent roads and the soil reinforcement of the roads embankments. Also, the companies will build an 190 hectares artificial island within the Vistula Lagoon.

The channel stretches over 1.5 kilometers with a width varying from 25 to 120 meters. It is equipped with 61-meter long and 17-meter large rotating bridges, while the associated buildings will cover an area of 1.090 m². Located outside the spit in the Gdańsk Bay, the two breakwaters have respective lengths of 1,014 and 568 meters and form a protective harbour.

Works are expected to start in 2019 and be completed in 2022.