Burgas-Alexandroupolis Project Sees Need for Protection of the Environment and Sustainable Tourism

A meeting was held recently, headed by Minister for Mercantile Marine and Island Policy Georgios Voulgarakis, to discuss the necessary measures that must be taken to protect the environment in lieu of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline project.

During the meeting, four initiatives were issued with regards to the protection of the sea environment. Deputy Minister of Mercantile Marine and Island Policy Panagiotis Kammenos, Chief of Greece Port Authorities Vice-Admiral Elias Sionidis, Coast Guard Deputy Commandant Rear Admiral Theodoros Rentzeperis and respective representatives from the ministry of mercantile marine were also present during the meeting.

The initiatives for the creation of a team to study the safety measures required for the passing of tankers through the Aegean once the pipeline is launched and the co-ordination with respective ministries for the identification of parameters and rules of passing of tankers in the Aegean, were asserted.

The meeting also addressed the need for reinforcement of the antipollution fleet of the coast guard that currently has seven antipollution ships and will acquire an additional four this year, thus 11 in total. The meeting concluded with the initiative to retract antipollution chemicals of outdated technology that currently exist in warehouses of peripheral port authorities.