By L. Karageorgos
The Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) this week announced an international tender to remove a well-known shipwreck that constitutes a maritime risk within the coastal zone that falls under OLP’s jurisdiction.
The tender is a repeat of a previous attempt to find a contractor that will salvage and remove the sunken ferry boat “Panaghia Tinou”.
The tender will be conducted at OLP’s offices on Oct. 21 via a sealed bid process, with a submission deadline being the previous day, Oct. 20, 2016.
The development is considered a landmark, by Greek standards, as it more-or-less marks an official delineation of OLP’s jurisdiction with other adjacent coastal tracts managed and supervised by state entities, such as the shipping ministry, the coast guard, harbor corps and regional governments.
A majority stake of OLP and its management passed to Chinese multinational Cosco over the summer, several years after the shipping giant first won a concession for Piraeus’ container port, and following its winning bid for the entire port. The port of Piraeus is the busiest and biggest such facility in Greece and one of the most important maritime hubs in the eastern Mediterranean.
