Sea Tourism

Turkey’s transport ministry said it was banning travel to Greece on yachts, sailboats and ferries after Greek authorities seized 11 vessels for violating maritime regulation.

The South Aegean Region and Rhodes authorities are seeking ways to boost cruise tourism to the island under the EU’s SIROCCO research program.

Cruise travel to Greece is expected to pick up pace in 2018 following a slow year in 2017, according to pre-booking data presented at Seatrade Europe.

The itineraries of Greek ferry company SeaJets have been amended until Friday, September 6, after its “SeaJet 2” vessel hit the pier at Sifnos port.

Greek Shipping Minister Panagiotis Kouroumplis has approved two projects aimed to modernize the Port of Patra in the northern Peloponnese.

Grimaldi Group plans to file a complaint to the EC’s DG for Competition over the deal between Attica Group and Hellenic Seaways.

Offering duty free sales at popular Greek islands can serve as an incentive to boost cruise travel, said Shipping Minister Panagiotis Kouroublis.

Greek cruise body EEKFN is looking to include new destinations on itineraries and for Greek-owned cruise ships to return to the national register.

True to shipping industry insider predictions, cruise travel to Greece, dropped in the Jan.-July period and is expected to remain below par in 2018. 

The Greek Shipping Ministry has launched a tender for routes connecting Kythira and Antikythira with Piraeus, Crete, Gythio and Kalamata.

Reinforcing passenger rights, changes to the scheduling of hydrofoils and high-speed sea craft are among the amendments of a ministry bill tabled in parliament.

Passengers visiting Santorini on a cruise ship will have to pay as of March 2018 a one-euro levy, according to the Port Authority plans.

Increased passenger traffic is expected at the ports of Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrion as August is the month that most Greeks take their summer vacation.

Greece’s ferry services from the port of Rafina will be conducted normally between August 1 and 3, as Greek Seamen decided to suspend their strike action.

The ports of Chios, Lesvos, Mykonos, Piraeus and Santorini are among the Greek ports leaving behind not so favorable impressions, according to a report.

A tender for the management of Alexandroupolis port in northeastern Greece, is set to be launched in the fall, the port authority announced this week.

A ferry link connecting the island of Kythira with Piraeus appears to be on hold after the tender launched by the shipping ministry remained fruitless. 

South Aegean authorities are pressing for waterway projects to resume as Japan’s Mitsui eyes Greece’s seaplane market.

Greece’s Sailor Association (PENEN) announced on Tuesday a series of 24-hour “warning” strikes which will keep ferries docked at the port of Rafina. 

Greece is in need of a ‘new’ coastal shipping product, one that is based on new business models and necessary investments, according to a study by the XRTC consultancy company.