Greece News

ABS said it has been selected to class two additional very large crude carriers (VLCC) being built for Greek shipping company Kyklades Maritime Corporation. The contract brings the number of Kyklades VLCC orders classed by ABS to four, with two already under construction.The 319,000-dwt vessels, each 330 meters long, are being built by Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and are expected to be delivered in 2020.ABS Vice President, Europe, Vasillios Kroustadis, said, “ABS is the number one class society in Greece and a global leader in the classification of tankers. Our selection for this project reflects our strong reputation in both areas.”ABS said it has a 29 percent share of the global tanker orderbook.

Greece-based Navios Maritime Partners announced that the Navios Apollon I, a 2005-built, 87,000 dwt Panamax vessel was delivered on May 9, 2018. As previously announced, the vessel was acquired for a price of $13.0 million, said the international owner and operator of container and dry bulk vessels. Based on the current rate environment (Clarksons’ 1-year time charter rate for Panamax vessels as of May 4, 2018), the vessel is expected to generate approximately $3.2 million of annual EBITDA, assuming operating expenses approximating current operating costs and 360 revenue and cost days.

The latest sub-regional contingency plan to deal with any oil pollution incident in the Mediterranean Sea has been signed, following support from the International Maritime Organization (IMO)-administered Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC). An Implementation Agreement on the Sub-Regional Marine Oil Pollution Contingency Plan was signed in Nicosia, Cyprus (8 May) by Cyprus, Greece, and Israel, along with other instruments for cooperation among the three countries. The objective of the contingency plan is an effective reaction to spills.

The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum has received a $200,000 grant from the Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS) through the National Maritime Heritage (NMH) grant program, for the repair of USS Slater’s mast and hull.Thirty-four of these grants totaling $2.6 million were awarded in collaboration with the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs). With these funds, organizations and agencies conduct education and preservation…

Greece will invite major oil companies next month to conduct offshore test drillings, the government said on Wednesday, launching the debt-laden country's most ambitious attempt so far to develop its untapped hydrocarbon potential. Athens has made several fruitless attempts over the past decades to find big reserves of oil or natural gas. Exploration interest revived during its debt crisis, with the cash-strapped country keen to reduce its big fuel import bill. Several blocks covering a combined area of more than 200,000 square kilometres in the Ionian Sea and south of the island of Crete are expected to go under the hammer. Greece has been encouraged in its quest by big offshore natural gas finds in Israel and Cyprus, nearby in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. won $400 million in orders from Greece to build five containerships and four bulk carriers. Hyundai Heavy said the 5,500 TEU containerships will be delivered to Greece's Costamare Shipping Co. between late 2000 and the first half of 2001. The bulk carriers, all 75,000-gt class, are scheduled for delivery to Arcadia Shipmanagement Co. of Greece by the end of 2001. Hyundai Heavy said with the orders from Greece its shipbuilding orders this year rose to $2.5 billion and its backlog orders stands at $6 billion.

Greece is planning to cut tax rates for oil and gas companies as it wants to attract them to help exploit its untapped offshore hydrocarbon resources, its energy minister said on Tuesday. Under the plan, oil and gas explorers will pay 25 percent tax, down from 40 percent currently, and 5 percent of the tax will go to local communities. "We have done this in order to incentivize our investors to invest in the future of Greece," Ioannis Maniatis, Greece's Energy Minister, said at a conference in London. He did not say when the new tax rates would come into effect.

Greece will conclude the evaluation of deep-sea oil and gas exploration bids in the coming weeks and will name the preferred bidders soon after, its energy minister said on Friday, as the country seeks to tap into its limited oil reserves. Plunging crude oil prices have cut spending on oil projects around the world but cash-strapped Greece is pushing ahead with investment in the industry in a bid to reduce dependence on oil imports and boost public finances. "We are evaluating three bids made by oil companies whose financial strength, experience and infrastructure ensure they are in a position to successfully perform gas and oil exploration and production," Energy Minister Panos Skourletis said.

Bulgarian state energy holding company BEH and Greek natural gas company Gastrade have set up a joint task force to prepare a proposal to build an off-shore liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in northern Greece, Gastrade said on Tuesday. Greece currently has one LNG terminal on an islet off Athens and Gastrade, part of Greek energy group Copelouzos, is planning a second LNG terminal near the northern city of Alexandroupolis. The task force will prepare and submit a proposal to the Bulgarian government for the best possible way to take part in the project, Gastrade said in a statement. The facility, with an estimated annual capacity of 6.1 billion cubic metres (bcm)…

Greece's shipping sector faces paying a higher tonnage tax, and a phase-out of the special tax allowances it has enjoyed, under the latest proposals presented by the country's creditors, according to documents seen by Reuters. Together with tourism, the shipping sector is a vital generator of income for Greece. According to an official document indicating steps Greece must take, its lenders say the country must "increase the rate of the tonnage tax and phase out special tax treatments of the shipping industry". A separate document showed Greece had proposed to "increase tonnage tax and implement an effective taxation framework for commercial shipping". (Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Matthias Sobolewski, George Georgiopoulos and Michele Kambas)

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Saturday for countries to do more to help cope with Europe's migrant crisis, saying Greece could not manage on its own. Speaking in Athens before heading to the Greek island of Lesbos, the gateway into Europe for nearly a million people last year, Ban said Greece had shown "remarkable solidarity and compassion" in dealing with the hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war, despite its economic hardship. "Greece should not be left alone to address this challenge on its own…

Greece’s deal with Chinese shipping giant COSCO is “helping the country stand on its feet,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said. “We are sending a strong message to the international markets that Greece is decisively entering a new phase,” Tsipras said. According to a report in Xinhua, China and Greece have great hopes for Piraeus port, as attested to by the meeting of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras on Monday. Li met with Tsipras in Beijing on Monday afternoon, with much of their meeting focused on Piraeus.

According to sources, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co said it has won 730m in orders from firms in Belgium and Greece. The shipbuilder said it has secured an order from Exmar Marine NV of Belgium for two LNG regasification vessels and a contract from Gulf Marine Management SA of Greece to build two very large gas carriers. It did not disclose details of each contract. The deals take its order book to 5.22 bln usd or 25 ships, including nine liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. (NYSE:ANW) has established operations in Patras, Greece, expanding the company's presence in the Mediterranean. Patras, located on the western coast of Greece, serves as a strategic commercial hub connecting Greece and the Balkans with Italy and the rest of Western Europe. The port, ranking second in Greece in terms of size, caters to all segments of shipping and has a particular emphasis on the international ferry business. Aegean has been serving the Patras market on a limited basis since the second quarter of 2008 from its base in Piraeus. The company plans to assign four of its Piraeus' stationed double-hull bunkering tankers to this market.

Greece's returning Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras decided to break up the "super-Ministry" of the Economy, Shipping and Tourism. The shipping portfolio was handed to Theodore Dritsas who will head a stand-alone Ministry of Shipping. Dritsas served as Alternate Minister in charge of Shipping in the previous government. He has strongly objected the privatization of the Piraeus Port. He said his priorities are  strengthening the expertise of seafarers. He said the Greek shipping industry as a whole will aid economic growth in Greece.

Greece's Alpha Bank raised more than $500 million from a transaction backed by shipping loans, it confirmed on Thursday, one of the first of its kind by a Greek bank since 2008. Reuters reported in November that Alpha Bank, Greece's fourth-largest bank, was to raise about $510 million by bundling together shipping loans. The fundraising, arranged by Citigroup, has a five-year maturity. Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou

FleetWeather Business Intelligence, a provider of maritime business intelligence solutions and consulting services for global shippers, announced the opening of a new office this October in Athens, Greece. According to FleetWeather, the office launch is the result of a developing customer base in the region, as well as proximity to clients and additional business opportunities. Jess Hurwitz, FleetWeather’s Director of Global Sales & Marketing and Chief Technology Officer, said, “We have experienced tremendous growth and new business in Greece over the last few years with interest and inquiries continuing at a high level. The new office is located in Greece’s tallest building, the Athens Towers, located in the Ambelokipi district on the edge of the central business district.

Greece will not tolerate any challenges to its territorial integrity, its prime minister said on Thursday, days after Turkish and Greek coastguard vessels collided close to disputed islets in the Aegean Sea. Each side blamed the other for Monday’s collision off an islet known as Imia in Greek and Kardak in Turkish. They came to the brink of war in 1996 in a sovereignty dispute over the islets. Seeking international support, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras underlined that Greece’s border was also that of the 28-nation European Union, and his foreign minister briefed the head of NATO and the U.S.

Greek coast guard searching for 38 migrants off Lesbos. Four children, two men and one woman drowned and 38 migrants were missing after their wooden boat sank north of the Greek island of Lesbos, the coast guard said on Thursday, as an extensive search operation continued for a second day. The coast guard rescued 242 people off Lesbos on Wednesday in what was thought to be the largest maritime disaster off Greece in terms of numbers involved since a massive refugee influx began this year. The search went on overnight. Four coast guard vessels were deployed on Thursday, assisted by fishing boats. Three helicopters were hovering above the sea.

The Inauguration of the Expansion of Pier III of COSCO Piraeus Container Terminal(PCT) was held yesterday. Premier Li Keqiang of China sent a congratulatory message, which was read by Mr. Zou Xiaoli, Chinese Ambassador to Greece during the ceremony. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of Greece attended the event and made congratulatory remarks. Executive Vice President Sun Jiakang of COSCO Group delivered a speech and cut the ribbon together with the Prime Minister and Ambassador.

China is closely monitoring the policies of the new Greek government after Athens said this week it will stop the sale of a majority stake in Greece's biggest port, China's trade ministry said on Thursday. The Greek government last year had shortlisted China's Cosco Group as a potential buyer of a 67 percent stake in Piraeus Port Authority. But Greece stopped the sale this week, saying it would be put on hold as newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras halted privatisation plans agreed under Greece's bailout deal. "We are paying a great deal of attention," Shen Danyang, the spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, said when asked about the suspended deal.

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) advised of 48 hour strike action in Greece by the Seamen’s Union from 0600 on Thursday 31 August until 0600 on Saturday 2 February 2013. ISS Greece has confirmed that the strike disruption means that there will be no assistance by tug boat crews with berthing and sailing movements for vessels calling at the ports of Piraeus, Aspropyrgos, Eleusis and Lavrion and pilots have also confirmed they will be joining the strike from 12.00 until 16.00 on 31st January. Vessel movements at Thessaloniki will not be affected as the local towage company will not be joining the strike. ISS Greece will continue to monitor developments on behalf of ship owners and operators and will keep customers updated.

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), a  maritime services provider, is advising of 48 hour strike action in Greece by the Seamen’s Union from 0600 on Thursday 31 January until 0600 on Saturday 2 February 2013. ISS Greece has confirmed that the strike disruption means that there will be no assistance by tug boat crews with berthing and sailing movements for vessels calling at the ports of Piraeus, Aspropyrgos, Eleusis and Lavrion and pilots have also confirmed they will be joining the strike from 12.00 until 16.00 on 31st January. Vessel movements at Thessaloniki will not be affected as the local towage company will not be joining the strike. ISS Greece will continue to monitor developments on behalf of ship owners and operators and will keep customers updated.