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Victoria Mindova

50% growth of tourist flow in 2011 promises the cruise company Costa. The information was announced by the Minister for Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries Yiannis Diamantidis at the first large press conference related to the initiatives of the newly formed ministry. After the cabinet reshuffling in the autumn of 2010, George Papandreou separated the merchant marine from the Ministry of Economy and Development. He differentiated a separate body to attach greater importance to the merchant marine, the islands and the problems connected with them.  

Issues about the liberalization of transport in the country during the summer of 2010 seriously affected civil shipping too. Trade unionists’ strikes and protests hampered foreign vessels to arrive and depart from the port of Piraeus several times during the past season.

The unrest affected seriously the image of the Mediterranean country in the international maritime tourism. Greece was very close to losing cruise routes of giants in the sector such as Royal Caribbean, MSC, Carnical and Costa. Government officials triggered emergance teams and held an emergency meeting with the help of the US Embassy attended by representatives of the cruise companies and the Union of Greek Shipowners. "Royal Caribbean were concerned about the security of the tourists but this problem does not exist anymore," said the Minister.

To allay fears of accidents in the summer of 2011, the competent Minister said: "Incidents like this with cruise ship Zenith will not happen again." He stressed that a law was passed which is in force and will be applied with the greatest severity to anyone who tries unjust (again under the law) to prevent foreign cruise tourists from getting off to Greek ports.

Foreign ships with no Greek sailors on board laid aboard in Greece last summer and became the reason for the protests. Following the rules of cabotage, until the last year the law limited foreign ships to make transport and travel services to the Greek islands. These restrictions have been cancelled after the liberalization of the transport market which led to a flurry of strikes, protests and problems at the port of Piraeus. Yiannis Diamantidis explicitly said: "We're in a new world. Greece should live in 2011 rather than in 1980. The issue of cabotage is over!"

In an attempt to calm the union forces in Greece, the Minister offered foreign cruise companies preferential rates for laying aboard if there were 1% Greek sailors in their crews. He explained that about 1400-1500 people in total worked on such vessels which would mean that 14-15 local seamen of all ranks could be hired. If we calculate that our ports host hundreds of ships during the year this seems a very satisfactory number of local people employed, concluded Diamantidis.

The reorganization of water transport includes unprofitable ferry lines closing. Economic stagnation and lack of funding made the government review the efficiency of all ferry lines that connect small and large islands to the mainland in the country. Many islands which were cut off direct transport were not satisfied with the changes and this year residents and visitors will have to change ferries. "When you go to a German village, for example, or in a town smaller than Athens the airplane does not land directly there but in the first large urban centre and then you use local transport facilities to get to the final destination. This rule applies to the islands the way to which is not commercially profitable," the Minister defended the changes.

Among the tasks of the new Marine Minister is the water supplying of most of the islands that have no built local water sources. They are supplied with water from special water carrying ships which generally costs the government about seven billion euros annually. They said from the Ministry a tender procurement would be announced to build the most advanced water supplying system on the problem islands which will reduce the price to 1.5 million euros per year. Asked by GRReporter "When will this happen?" the representative of the ministry said: "Surely it would not happen in 2011 because the project is large and the procedures are burdensome."