The investment program of the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) is progressing rapidly, following the issuance of the presidential decree, the approval of the master plan and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as well as the new environmental assessment approval.
PPA has set the goal of completing all mandatory investments at the end of the first investment period, according to PPA SA Deputy CEO, Panagiotis Tsonis, at the 7th Transport and Infrastructure Conference held at the Athens Concert Hall. “This is an ambitious, but achievable goal,” he underlined.
He also revealed that the “green light” was given by EU Funding and the Region of Attica to continue and restart the project of expanding the cruise pier in the southern part of Piraeus port.
At the same time, he emphasized that dredging is progressing in the port, “an important project from both an environmental and safety point of view, as it will allow better docking of ships.”
He estimated that, by the end of 2024, the underground connection of the stores, which will connect the Container Terminal with the Logistics Center, will be completed, while the upgrade of the Perama Shipyard Repair Zone (NPZ Perama) is also progressing.
Referring to the “green” transition, Tsonis argued that it is directly connected to ports and shipping. On top of this, the PPA will spend over 50-60 million euros for the supply of ships with electricity from land (cold ironing), for a total of 9 positions, 5 for coastal shipping and 4 for cruises.
At this moment, studies have begun for 2 more cold ironing positions in the new cruise extension, while at the same time studies are underway to meet the needs of ro-ro and container ships.
Also, Tsonis stated that “we are at the stage of tendering projects for the implementation of cold ironing regarding the aforementioned 9 ship positions.”
Regarding the PPA’s performance for the current year, special mention was made of the impressive figures of cruise in the port of Piraeus, which is expected to achieve a new record with over 1.6 million passengers.
