By George Georgiou

 

The management of Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) welcomed the COSTA Deliziosa – the first cruise ship in the port of Piraeus, for the new year.

 

The cruise ship with 2,500 passengers sailed from Izmir and continued its trip to Dubrovnik and Italy.

 

COSTA ships operate in the port of Piraeus throughout the year, having already recorded 16 arrivals in 2023 while another 22 are expected in 2024.

 

According to the provisional data, 2023 recorded the highest cruise passenger arrivals as approximately 1.5 million passengers traveled compared to 880,000 in 2022. Homeport passengers amounted to approximately 800,000, compared to 380,000 in 2022. The number of cruise ships was 760, of which 525 were homeport.

 

However, the new year is even more dynamic for the cruise industry at the port of Piraeus, as pre-bookings amount to 1,042 arrivals and homeport ship arrivals seen reaching 800 calls.

 

The president of PPA S.A., Yu Zenggang, expressed his satisfaction with the excellent course of the cruise sector in the port of Piraeus, adding that the continuation of the upward trend of the cruise industry is a key pursuit of PPA S.A., as it has a positive impact on the local community, the port municipalities, Attica region, but also the country in general.

 

The role of the port in the shipping cluster

 

An important opportunity for Greece and the Greek economy in 2024 is the rebirth of the shipping cluster with focus on the port of Piraeus. Despite the geopolitical developments, a number of important synergies between companies of marine equipment, products and services create the basic conditions for the strengthening of the cluster by the strongest maritime power in the world.

 

An important role is expected to be played by the reactivation of the largest shipyards in Greece: Neorio, Elefsis and Skaramangas.

 

Executives of the shipping market pointed out to “Naftemporiki” that the strengthening of healthy entrepreneurship with a stable favorable institutional framework, the reduction of bureaucracy, the attraction of young people in the maritime professions, are the basic conditions for the regeneration and expansion of shipping.

 

They also pointed out that the green transition will require a mix of significant partnerships and initiatives between private and public services, as well as new skills.

 

The Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Christos Stylianidis, recently said that the management of most Greek-owned ships requires a strong shipping cluster, underlining that the port of Piraeus has always been preferred by the management companies as it has evolved into an innovation center for shipping.

 

Digital register

 

Among the priorities of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs is the digitization of the register, but also the creation of a new strong institutional framework for the upgrading of maritime education in Greece, with the aim of attracting more young people to the maritime profession.

 

The shipping companies located in Greece, mainly in Piraeus, exceed 1,570, while more than 3,600 shipping companies operate for the management of smaller ships, providing direct employment to approximately 10,000 workers, who work to financial institutions, legal offices, financial consulting companies, marine insurance companies, etc.

 

Dr. Nikos Tsakos, founder and CEO of Tsakos Energy Navigation, speaking on a US television network, recently emphasized that shipping is an international industry and Greece has great know-how adding that this is the reason why it is called the Silicon Valley of Shipping.

 

He pointed out that Greece may be a small country of 11 million inhabitants, but Greek shipowners control, depending on the type of ships, between 20% and 25% of the world’s tonnage.

 

Renaissance of the shipyards

 

The president of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vassilis Korkidis pointed out that the Greek companies of the cluster should claim a piece of the pie that has been created.

 

“It has been estimated that the Greek shipyards can increase ship equipment exports by 1.35 billion euros in the first years, while the renewal of the coastal fleet, until 2030, will require investments of more than 4.5 billion euros, a large part of which should be done in Greek shipyards,” he added.

 

It should be noted that a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoU) worth 1 billion euros was recently signed between ONEX SA (owner of the Neorio and Elefsis Shipyards) and the Attica Group, lasting ten years, with the possibility of extension.

 

In the top ten in the world

 

The full operation of the Tower in March 2024 – the largest iconic building in Greece, which remained closed for 47 years – marks the return of many shipping businesses to the largest port hub of the Eastern Mediterranean combined with the creation of a strong shipping cluster.

 

The building will house shipping companies, while it is estimated that up to 2,500 people will work there.

 

It is noted that the port of Piraeus is among the top 10 ports worldwide in the 2023 shipping index, as it has occupied the 8th position internationally in the Xinhua-Baltic Shipping Centers Index (ISCD).

 

Singapore ranks as the world’s leading shipping hub, followed by London and Shanghai. The report is jointly published by China’s state news agency Xinhua and global maritime data provider Baltic Exchange.