Μake us preferred on Google Greece remains at the forefront of international efforts to build a safer, more efficient and sustainable shipping industry, Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Thursday, Sept. 24, marking World Maritime Day.
In a statement, Kikilias said the day offered an opportunity to highlight shipping’s importance to the global economy, trade and prosperity, with a focus on the people who serve the industry every day.
He noted that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) had, over decades, shaped the global institutional framework for maritime safety, efficiency and environmental sustainability through an extensive body of international rules. This year’s observance, he said, underscored the need for those rules to be implemented effectively and to deliver tangible benefits for ships, seafarers, safety at sea and society at large.
Kikilias described Greece as a leading maritime power, with some 5,800 Greek-owned vessels representing about 20% of global tonnage, and said the country had one of the strongest shipping ecosystems in the world.
He added that Piraeus and the wider Athens area were a top international ship management hub, home to more than 1,820 companies managing over 5,650 oceangoing vessels.
Together with Greek ports and a strong network of businesses and services, the minister said, shipping formed a dynamic maritime cluster that created jobs, added value and drove growth for the national economy and local communities. He credited seafarers, port workers and shipping company employees as the driving force behind that effort.
Kikilias said Greece, as a consistently elected Category A member of the IMO Council, would continue to contribute to shaping international rules and ensuring their effective and uniform application, with the aim of safe, sustainable and competitive global shipping.
He concluded by wishing the Greek maritime community and all Greek seafarers health, progress and safe seas.
