Piraeus port launches second sea cruise passenger terminal

14:35 28/5/2013 - Πηγή: Matrix24

“The sea cruise is just like an orchestra: the client will leave after hearing the slightest false sound,” Costis Mousouroulis, Shipping and Aegean Minister said on Monday, during the inauguration ceremony of a new second international sea cruise passenger terminal in Piraeus.

Addressing

the ceremony, the Greek minister said that the sea cruise industry was rapidly developing despite a global economic slowdown and noted that sea cruise operators were choosing Greece after rating the country’s services on credibility, quality, cost and speed.

Mousouroulis said international competition was intensifying adding that the country had a competitive advantage offering more natural beauty and cultural reserve. He noted that a new legislation envisaging the reform of the country’s port system was creating the necessary preconditions to achieve the goals for the development of sea cruise.

Piraeus Port Organization’s chairman and chief executive George Anomeritis said the port was a hub because of its large number of vessel positions and the large number of sea cruise passengers. Homeporting passengers grew 22.05 pct in the first quarter of 2013 to 8,120 from 6,653 in the same period last year, while transit passengers rose 24.94 pct to 88,948 in the first three months of the year, from 71,194 in 2012.

The new, international, second passenger terminal in Piraeus port, covers an area of 5,600 sq.m. and can service up to 25,000 passengers per day. The port authority plans to launch a third terminal station for sea cruise passengers by the end of the year.

Piraeus port is the largest passenger port in Europe and the largest in vessel positions in the Mediterranean. The new terminal will be named “Themistocles”, after the ancient Athenian general.

Source: AMNA