Ferry tickets for the island of Crete are expected to be slightly higher, as the shipping sector joined the European Union’s Emissions Trading System. The most likely date of the implementation of the new tariff policy is February 1, 2024. The measure will most likely start from the port of Chania, with increases below 3%.
Attica Group and the Grimaldi Group have already announced increases in Adriatic routes, due to the industry’s inclusion in the EU ETS from January 1, 2024.
In Greece, after negotiations by the previous Greek government, islands with less than 200,000 inhabitants managed to be exempt from the system, until the end of 2029. The only Greek island with more inhabitants is Crete (about 600,000 residents).
Meanwhile, the current leadership of the Ministry of Shipping had, according to information, made an attempt to consult with Brussels in order to investigate whether there are possibilities of a “diplomatic maneuver” to exempt Crete with legal arguments from the imposition of the pollutant trading rights measure.
Coastal shipping circles stated to “Naftemporiki” that no “white smoke came out of Brussels” and the two groups that serve the Cretan ports, the Attica Group and the Minoan Lines of the Grimaldi Group, are expected to announce small-scale increases in the next period.
What has not been clarified is the exact strategy that each company will follow, while answers are also expected from Brussels regarding a series of details about the shipping pollution trading system and its implementation in our country.
