Shipping: Faced with serious sailor shortage

Coastal shipping is in danger of running out of seafarers as there is a shortage of mainly lower level crews, according to the coastal shippers.

Characteristic is the position of the president of the Eugenides Group, Leonidas Dimitriadis-Eugenidis, at an event on maritime education with the theme “I choose shipping” at the Eugenides Foundation and also at a transport conference a few days later. This year we are seeing a huge crew shortage. We cannot find crews in coastal shipping, said Mr. Eugenidis at the conference, to the agreement of the president of the Association of Passenger Shipping Companies (SEEN), Spyros Paschalis, who added that this is indeed a serious matter.

In support of the above, there was also an announcement by the Panhellenic Union of Merchant Mariners (PENEN) which informs sailors about the demand for specific specialties required by short-distance shipping and short-distance shipping.

It should be noted that coastal shipping in many cases needs routes and double crews in order to keep working hours and this obligation creates an additional demand.

Speaking at the conference in general about the day-to-day operation of the coastal shipping industry, the president of the Eugenidis Group, which launches the passenger-car ferry “Anemos” in the Western Cyclades this year, characterized the whole picture “as a ‘tragedy'”.

“It is a very discouraging and sad picture” he said characteristically and added that “at the moment there are islands that for technical reasons do not have routes”. Also “itineraries are approved on ships that will never be launched” but are aimed at “blocking the lines of others”.

“The concept of regular and emergency routing has overflowed. How are the subsidies given, what are the criteria? I know one thing: the subsidy is given for social cohesion, the conventional ships which will cover the needs of the islands for 12 months. I want to understand what is the perspective, with which we decide and give subsidies, why this island and not the other”, said Mr. Eugenides and asked for a new institutional framework and a fundamental restructuring and a proper institutional treatment.

He even gave an example, saying that a truck cannot go from Sifnos to Syros because the ministry chose to subsidize the intra-Cycladic transport by high-speed ship and not the conventional ship.

On the other hand, the president of SEEN, Mr. Paschalis, meaningfully commented that the framework gives absolute power to the minister, who is in the midst of a conflict of interests and must make his choices.