Adamos Adamou
The formalization of the new effort for sea passenger connection of Cyprus with Greece was marked by yesterday's announcement of the Ministry of Shipping for a final consultation of the terms of the relevant tender that will be announced at the end of November.
The new effort follows the recent competition that ended at the beginning of the year ignominiously and without the expression of any interest, to the disappointment of our aerobic fellow citizens and those who looked forward to further strengthening the already very close relations between the two countries by sea. In part, the wreck of the previous tender was due to the pandemic but also to the terms of the then announcement, as Undersecretary of Shipping Vassilis Dimitriadis hinted. From then until today, several contacts were made with the market but also with the EU in order to diversify and simplify the terms of the tender, something that seems to have been achieved. Whether the new announcement for the sea passenger connection of Cyprus with Greece and specifically with the port of Piraeus will be crowned with success, will be shown by the interest that will exist in the new tender.
Mr. Dimitriadis, however, stated in his statements to “F” yesterday that for his part the ministry did “as flexible as possible based on EU regulations”, as the tender after the relevant approval of the EU provides the subsidy of this route with 5 million euros per year. As also mentioned by the Undersecretary, in order to attract interest in the context of the tender, compensation of companies is now provided in cases of significant fuel increases, while the most important thing is that the line will be purely seasonal for passengers without necessarily transporting cargo. Regarding the seasonality of the route, Mr. Dimitriadis stated that those interested will be able to start the route in April or May until September or October, but having the obligation to perform 26 trips per year.
He said that several contacts have already been made with companies of passenger and car ferries and that with the consultation that began yesterday, the Undersecretariat of Shipping is trying to listen to the final views or remarks of the market.
In yesterday's announcement, which was also published in English, the State Department states that a document of intent has been posted on the website of the General Accounting Office e-procurement regarding the operation of the Cyprus-Greece sea passenger connection “which has the character of consultation with all the potential interested carriers who are invited by Friday 12 November 2021 to submit their suggestions and opinions “. However, Mr. Dimitriadis clarified that the pre-consultation will not overturn the planning for announcing the new European tender at the end of the month and that it is just its last scan. He said that the results of the tender announcement, in which carriers will be able to choose as in the previous one whether they will connect Piraeus with Larnaca or Limassol, will be announced in January, when the relevant deadline for offers expires.
Thus, in case there is interest, it is not called the sea connection Cyprus – Greece for passengers but also for their cars or motorcycles to start from April or May 2022.
