A strategy towards diversification of operations : the case study of the stevedoring enterprise

The main goal of the article is identification, analysis and assessment of justifiability as well as the efficiency of employing the strategy towards diversification in the operations performed by the storage and reloading companies in the Polish seaports (stevedoring enterprise). Therefore, a single case study method of the company Bulk Cargo-Port Szczecin, which is the biggest stevedoring company of the port of Szczecin, was used. In the past the company was primarily connected with handling bituminous coal exported from Poland, but nowadays it handles numerous cargoes in various reloading relations as well as provides commercial, distributional and logistic services. The objectives, which were recognised as the most important for the development of Bulk Cargo-Port Szczecin, are as follows: adaptation of the existing resources for the new, maximum depth of 12.5 m in the port of Szczecin, adaptation of the handling and storage services for the complex structure based on the type, direction and subject of maritime trade cargo, extension of the storage services and establishment of flexible services with regard to the different transport modes in servicing the port of Szczecin hinterland. The accomplishment of these objectives requires appropriate (in terms of time and subject-matter) investment actions to be conducted by Bulk Cargo-Port Szczecin, which are related to the development of the suprastructure, as well as actions of the Polish maritime management and the entity managing the Szczecin-Świnoujście port complex. Thanks to its strategy for diversifying cargo, directions and functions the stevedoring company has reached its established position in the market of port services in the South Baltic.