By Panagiotis Kouroumplis
Mr. Panagiotis Kouroumplis is the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy.
From the “wooden walls” of ancient Athens, a metaphor for its formidable navy, until the present day, the sea and marine activities have remained an inexhaustible source of wealth for Greece. Greek shipping is first in Europe and the world, and comprises one of the catalysts for the country’s return to normality.
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Amid the slump in the international merchant shipping sector, Greek shipping not only survived, but turned risks into opportunities. Greek shipowners and shipping executives currently account for 600 new vessel orders. The Greek government, in recognizing the crucial role of ocean-going shipping, has offered every possible form of support, and, in fact, at the highest political level in the European Union.
This same support for Greek shipping by the government is just as strong in all international venues, with very active participation and representation, especially at the IMO.
Greece’s shipping and insular policy ministry is working to maintain Greek shipping as the global leader, distinguished for both its quality and safety, as well as sensitivity for the environment and for the people that earn a living in the sector.
The ministry’s institutional support for shipping aims to preserve its competitiveness at the international level. At the same time it is imperative to increase the number of vessels on the Greek registry. With this in mind, the shipping ministry and the Union of Greek shipowners have recently agreed to cooperate in order to find solutions towards this direction.
There is no doubt that behind the consistently successful course of Greek shipping lies the human factor. Greek mariners and seafarers are renowned for their dependability.
The shipping ministry, in recognizing the significance of the human factor, both aboard the vessel and in the office back on land, is exhausting every opportunity to better train and educate the young people that want to enter the shipping sector, beginning with naval education.
The Greek government believes that naval education should be public and free. However, because this government inherited a naval education sector almost in shambles, with 200 out of 280 tenured instructors’ positions abolished and with derelict infrastructure, a vigorous effort began to upgrade this field.
In close cooperation with the Union of Greek Shipowners and the Marine Chamber of Commerce, the repair and renovation of naval education facilities at the Aspropyrgos site, in the Macedonia region of northern Greece, the island of Oinousses and others were completed.
The ministry also invested some 4.5 million euros for all types of equipment at the schools, such as simulators, while in cooperation with the Eugenides Institute it is proceeding with the restructuring of the curriculum of the Merchant Marine Academies and the Merchant Marine Education Centers.
At the same time, we inaugurated, for the first time, cooperation between the academies and local universities and tertiary institutes. As such, cooperation between the Merchant Marine Academy on the island of Hydra with SUNY College of New York commenced.
For the first time talks began with the IMO university to establish post-graduate programs in Greece in cooperation with the University of Piraeus.
The young people that want a career in the marine and shipping sector will be able to complete their post-graduate studies in Greece, under the IMO’s auspices, whereas merchant marine academy cadets will be able, through the same program, to attend specialized seminars.
It is apparent that shipping and the entire marine industry can absorb a major portion of today’s unemployed, during a period when the country is heading steadily towards a recovery.
The growth-oriented course of Greece’s shipping sector, together with the large port of Piraeus, also entail two major factors: Over the past three years more than 300 shipping-related companies and agents have filed for a license to establish operations in Greece, while in 2017, compared to the previous year, the increase in shipping remittances was 17 percent. In the first two months of 2018, we ‘ve recorded an increase of 11 percent, compared to the same period last year, and 32 percent compared to the January-February period in 2016.
At the same time, over the last three years a comprehensive effort has been underway to modernize the system governing Greece’s ports, so that these facilities can act as levers of growth for the national and local economy. One characteristic example of this effort is a requirement that all major port authorities and related entities submit a master plan, if they have not done so; an electronic registry of administrative, building and operational characteristics of all port management entities in the country, along with financing - via the state - of infrastructure works and renovations, especially at smaller ports, so they can best cover the needs of coastal shipping.
Another example is public debate and the awarding of studies to outside consultants for the modernization of Greece’s port and harbor policy.
Following the privatization of the Piraeus and Thessaloniki Port Authorities via the European model for selling a majority bloc of shares, which was applied by the previous government, the ministry proposed to the top government economic policy council, and the latter approved, of a strategy whereby the commercial exploitation at regional port authorities shall be achieved through a concession of rights to exploit specific port activities, or a combination of port activities.
The general secretariat for ports, ports policy and marine investments, which the previous liberal government had abolished, is feverishly working towards this direction. One of its first achievements is the complete restructuring of piloting services, with personnel, equipment and new vessels, all amid a veritable “battle” pressing for its privatization.
A specific law, 4504/2017, changed everything in the country’s shipping sector. The law abolished various bureaucratic hurdles, opened the way for investments in port operations, protected employment in the sector, and essentially declared “war” on illegal hirings and leasings of pleasure craft.
Pleasure craft and yachts are a completely different chapter in terms of the ministry’s work. The fruitful cooperation we had with all interested sides led to a clash with the regime of illegal hirings, which was dominant in Greek waters in the past and where no one dared break this silence.
The clash has today resulted in an increase of leasings of Greek-flagged vessels by 100 percent. Our political leadership dared, at the same time, to liberalize the mega-yacht sector by allowing vessels registered with third countries to operate in Greek waters. This was achieved by abolishing the 12-person ceiling provision, something no one had dared before. At the same time, the ministry is promoting another initiative to require the presence of a representative in Greece for tax purposes, something that will allow the activity of vessels registered with third countries in Greek waters, but under the same conditions that apply to tourism craft on the Greek registry. This is a radical initiative that completely opens the mega-yacht market, and one welcomed by MYBA, the Worldwide Yachting Association.
Additionally, over the past three years, and in cooperation with other ministries, steps have been taken to revitalize the ship-building and ship-repair sector. For instance, Cosco recently brought an 80,000-ton floating dock to the port of Piraeus, efforts have been made to free-up the Skaramangas shipyard, and especially the No. V tank, along with the re-activation of the Neorion Shipyard and support for the Perama yard, which has now started to build mega-yachts.
The shipping ministry has already drafted a special program with 14 goals, which will be submitted to the relevant Parliament committee in order to start public debate with all parties and interested parties.
The goal is for this plan to be the basis for a national marine strategy, one that will serve and be served by all Greek governments, given that we consider that shipping is a strategic growth sector for the country - a field where petty partisan policies and expediencies have no place.
