Port of Piraeus Officers See Promising Summer season for Cruise Tourism

The port of Piraeus, just outside the Greek capital Athens. Photo credit: Nikolaos Diakidis (User: Nik7) CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Piraeus, Greece’s largest port and one of the largest in the entire Mediterranean region, is looking forward to a significantly improved cruise tourism season compared to last year, according to port officials.

The port that serves the Greek capital Athens, According to the Deputy CEO of Piraeus Port Authority SA (PPA), Captain Weng Lin, there is a “very positive” trend in berth reservations.

Speaking to an industry conference on Tuesday reported by the Chinese state intelligence service Xinhua, Captain Weng said the summer was an improvement – even compared to the record tourism year 2019.

As part of his address to the Biennale Posidonia Sea Tourism Forum, Weng said there are more than 400 cruise lines on the schedule by Tuesday this year.

Weng said, “The trend in berth bookings from what we have on hand for this year is very positive, even compared to (the record year) 2019.”

The port director said the port authority had upgraded the port’s facilities, including the passenger terminals, as part of their plans to accommodate a record number of cruise ship passengers this year.

The cruise is set to improve even in the stellar 2019

Any emergency issues that arise will also be addressed as part of the upgrades.

Weng stated, “We have never stopped investing or preparing to resume cruise operations. There are currently seven to eight berths available while the health protocols are being updated, ”he said.

“We are continuing our investment for the port of Piraeus with large infrastructure projects. … We can meet the needs of the major players for the new generation of the cruise industry, ”he added.

China’s COSCO Shipping conglomerate acquired the majority of the shares in the port authority in 2016 after an international tender process was opened.

In the meantime, a coordination meeting took place in the port today, with the aim of safely restarting the cruise industry with optimal implementation of the reception procedures for passengers.

The Greek General Secretary for Ports and Ports Policy, Evangelos Kyriazopoulos, attended the meeting. Piraeus Harbor Master, Commodore Georgios Scandalis; and the EU Joint Action Coordinator for Healthy Gates, Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology Christos Hadjichristodoulou.

Varvara Mouchtouri, Associate Professor of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and the Director of the Health Port Authority of the Attica Region, Charalampos Vasiliou, as well as executives from the Port Authority of Piraeus also took part in the discussions.

During the meeting, all officials visited the port’s cruise passenger terminals and extensively discussed all possible issues related to the implementation of the protocols for the safest passenger flows and hygiene compliance.

The port of Piraeus is a crucial hub for the successful restart of the cruise in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. A total of 453 arrivals are planned for 2021, 251 of which will arrive on 40 ships stationed in Piraeus. In addition, 190 transit arrivals on a total of 33 transit ships and twelve arrival arrivals are planned in order to supply the ships with the necessary products.