The importance of the tugboat sector in the current national and international environment, the safety and the significant surplus values that will arise for the national economy, especially the shipbuilding industry, from equal access to financial tools for businesses operating in the tugboat and salvage sector, were highlighted by the president of the Association, Pavlos Xiradakis.
On the crucial issue of renewing the tugboat fleet, Xiradakis stated that, as a consequence of the new institutional framework, it is moving forward dynamically, with the aim of offering higher quality and safety of tugboat services.
A total of 44 new vessels entered central and regional Greek ports in the previous four years, of which 28 during the last two years. He also underlined the importance of the new institutional framework for the modernization of the tugboat and lifeboat fleet and the need for their correct and full implementation.
He said that large investments were made recently by many tugboat companies, mainly with the construction of new ships and the purchase of modern tugboats and highlighted the lack of available financial tools in the sector.
As he pointed out, “the big problem is the unjustified lack of financing.”
The sector, despite its successes, faces a major obstacle that it has not managed to overcome so far. This is the lack of access to financial tools, such as the Development Law.
This gap has serious implications for our national shipbuilding industry, he explained, as well as the loss of many jobs and valuable know-how, because companies continue to order tugboats from abroad.
