ABSTRACT
C. Hartwig of Gdynia emerged from the state owned group of Hartwig companies that had been established in the early 1950s and which, in turn, was a descendant of the private sector Hartwig group that first saw life in the 1850s. Hartwig has expanded its overseas portfolio during the 1990s which stretches beyond Amerpol in the US to include C. Hartwig Deutschland in Germany and PSA transport in the United Kingdom. C. Hartwig Gdynia presents some interesting examples of contradiction in the Polish maritime market place and in particular, the survival of an ex-state owned company in a new aggressive market environment – but a company although with clear desires to expand client base, commodities and geographical area, as yet with only limited success. Any remaining semblance of geographical or modal monopoly disappeared very quickly and the Hartwig companies, including that of Gdynia found themselves exposed to the full force of competition.
