By Mimi Kostourou*
When the need arises
I have recently come across an extremely interesting article about a book written by a former colleague, which reminds me of the days where we were in charge of the 11 cruise ships berthed in Piraeus, serving, as floating hotels, the needs of the Organizing Committee for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Apart from such major events that either have a recreational (i.e., Olympic Games), or commercial (i.e., product launch) target, there are also cases where passenger ships or cruise ships in particular, can provide an optimum allocation to all in need, taking into account the limitations in the available accommodation inventory.
There are indeed situations where demand exceeds the supply as to the accommodation required in order to face a major humanitarian situation. These issues can be from natural disasters to attempts at genocide, religious persecution or fleeing from war zones. Such examples, where the need for the use of passenger ship for displaced people had been decided, were the relief accommodation of the citizens of Kalamata, Greece in the Earthquake of 1986, or most recently, Holland America’s vessel m/s Volendam in order to accommodate Ukranian refugees.
The most common practice for supplementary accommodation could be found in school and university student accommodation, in nearby cities, and elsewhere, depending on the relevant availability (period of year and duration of need), as well as the distance one would have to travel to and from major cities from where possibly these persons will be forwarded to other destinations. In cases where this cannot be met locally, the best available solution is the use of cruise or other passenger ships as supplementary accommodation. The prerequisites here are the condition of the port facilities as there is no limitation as to the proximity to a venue or city any port meeting the prerequisites could be used in these emergencies.
We should remember that the major players in this concept are the Ports and the ships that can be utilized.
Once the need for the use of the cruise ship accommodation has been decided and is justified, the requirements are established in relation to number of beds, quality standards and cost.
In order to embark on such a venture, it is suggested that the Organizers use the services of a local reputable ship broker knowledgeable in passenger ship chartering and a port agent servicing the port that is under consideration.
In view of the above, Mr. Costas Veloudakis, has decided to compile a guide/manual relating to the subject as a similar manual does not exist on the market.
This guide contains his accumulated experience of over fifty years working with passenger ships and ports. It is a different, innovative and useful tool covering a wide spectrum of interests from the private to the public sector as well as a variety of professions from Event Organizers, Destination Management Companies, to Ship Operation and Port Management.
The manual takes one by the hand from the first step in decision making for the use of a ship and port as supplementary accommodation in a wide range of situations from product launch, conferences, to natural hazards, refugees and war zones. Touching on subjects such as Initializing a project, conducting vessel and port inspections, port operation, security, vulnerability assessment, policies and procedures, crisis situations, configuration of ships, food, health and installing a day health centre on board and ethnic groups’ requirements, to mention a few.
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*Mimi Kostourou – Freelancer Shipping Consultant, Container Coordinator Import/ Export/ Transshipment in Scandinavian Near East Agency (SNEAL), Member of International Propeller Club Port of Piraeus and Member of WISTA Hellas.
Additional info is available in her LinkedIn account, if needed:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mimi-g-kostourou-bsc-msc-1541819/
