Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy Christos Stylianides on Tuesday called for the modernization of the country’s coastal shipping sector to meet the challenges of the modern era.
The need for immediate renewal of the coastal shipping fleet, with newly built eco-friendly, safe vessels, was highlighted by the minister in his speech at the conference of the Association of Passenger Shipping Companies (SEEN) held at the Eugenides Foundation in Athens this week.
Speaking on the issue of the renewal of coastal shipping vessels, the minister outlined a strategic vision focused on innovation and balanced state intervention.
Stylianides presented the policy and initiatives of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Insular Policy to support the green transition of passenger shipping, the modernization and upgrading of the country’s port facilities and infrastructure, as well as the reform of the coastal shipping sector in general.
The new policy of the ministry is based on a specific triptych Safety-Modernization-Restructuring, which is implemented through six strategic initiatives: the digital portal “Passenger Rights”, the time slots (digital departure-arrival), the public private partnership for green ships on barren routes, the Masterplan for the renewal of the coastal shipping fleet, the cooperative scheme (cluster) to enhance the competitiveness of shipping and the restructuring and modernization of the ministry and the coast guard.
As he emphasized, “the need for the green transition of passenger shipping must be combined with safety, modernization and upgrading of port facilities and infrastructure. To do this, the state must coexist with the free market, to the extent that the concept of a free economy is not overturned.”
Referring, however, to finding/covering the required funding for the implementation of the above projects, the Minister conveyed the commitment of the new members of the European Commission, with whom he had a series of meetings a few days ago in Brussels, to continue supporting the initiatives and projects aimed at modern and environmentally friendly shipping, with the corresponding port infrastructure.
He also expressed his satisfaction for securing significant European financial support thought ESPA and other sources to implement these projects.
