By Lambros Karageorgos [email protected]
The prospect of the port of Thessaloniki being upgraded into a Mediterranean gateway for Eastern Europe and beyond, as well as emerging as a regional shipping hub, was cited by the President of the Union of Greek Shipowners, Theodore Veniamis, who spoke to Naftemporiki newspaper during the Export Summit VII, held recently in the Northern Greece metropolis.
Mr. Veniamis also pointed to Northern Greece as an extension of the Balkan mainland, its proximity to the Near East and to the most recent Chinese trade and investment inroads to Europe via Greece as necessitating the emergence of a more competitive shipping services spectrum in the country. At the same time, he praised what he called the latest positive developments linked with the reoperation of a handful of major Greek shipyards, as well as the growth prospects of the country’s port authorities.
Noting that the EU’s roughly 1,200 commercial sea ports handle 74 percent of the cargo entering and exiting the European Union, as well as 30 percent of intra-EU trade, he added that 21st century maritime shipping now requires new infrastructure, top-quality port services and competitive rates, given the surge in significant technological advancements regarding ship construction and ship management over the past two decades, proportionate to an increase in vessel size and the capacity for loading/offloading even greater volumes of cargo.
Mr. Veniamis called for more incentives to promote shortdistance sea transport and better coordination to combine ocean-going shipping with rail, river and road transports, as part of the supply chain. In order to boost the supply chain and logistics sectors in Greece, he also pointed to simplified and faster administrative processes, essentially reducing “red tape”.
In going into detail over what the shipping community desires from port operators, he pointed to the effective and transparent operation of port authorities, a rationalization of port fees, ones based on objective criteria, as well as highquality auxiliary services, such as marine pilotage, tug boats and waste management.
Asked about the growth of the Greek-owned fleet, the UGS president underlined that it has retained first place for several decades now. “Greek shipping is a national capital with a decisive and multi-dimensional strategy, policy and economic impact for our country,” he said.
According to Veniamis, the Greek-owned and controlled fleet now exceeds 5,000 vessels, with a total transport capacity of 390 million DWTs, a figure that corresponds to more than 21 percent of the global fleet and 53 percent of the EU total. A further breakdown shows that 32 percent of the world’s tankers, 23 percent of bulkers and 15 percent of the chemical and petrochemical carriers are Greek owned or controlled. As such, the world’s biggest shipping “ownership zone” is located in
the greater Athens-Piraeus area, ranging from small-to-medium sized companies, global giants and listed companies.
It is more than obvious that ocean-going shipping and the wider maritime sector will continue to comprise a massive economic asset for Greece in the near future, as long as competitiveness remains high, guaranteeing the viability of the sector and its influential contribution to the Greek economy, he said.
The goal of Greece’s shipowners and shipping executives is to stay in first place, and to retain an commanding spot on the global transport landscape. “Therefore, our country’s primary priority for the sector should be to further boost competitiveness, increase job spots for Greek citizens and multiple benefits for the national economy. We stand by the economic proposition that for every dollar invested in the sea, another four are generated on land,” Mr. Veniamis concluded.
