“With “Aegis 2″ the Hellenic Coast Guard fleet is being renewed with the aim of guarding the maritime borders and strengthening security. We are talking about two large high-seas ships that will also be able to operate in the Mediterranean. In addition, small pursuit vessels, as well as modern equipment – drones, possibly unmanned submarines in a second year. We are also proceeding with the use of Artificial Intelligence, in the creation of a digital center, such as the Civil Protection War Room,” said the Minister of Shipping and Insular Policy, Vasilis Kikilias, on SKAI’s show “Incompatibles”, with Yannis Ntsounos and Christos Koutras.
Regarding coastal shipping, Mr. Kikilias underlined: “The coastal shipping season is not over yet. We have made an organized effort to intensify all security measures and preventive checks on all ships – tourist, coastal, open, closed, ferry boats, on ferries and in central port authorities – in order to reduce, as much as possible, the chances of something happening or, if it does happen, to be able to deal with it. So far, this has been achieved and I am satisfied. Safety comes first. At the same time, serving citizens, supporting them and providing them with proper information from the Port Authority and the companies are our priorities, so that coastal shipping routes are of high quality for travelers.”
The Minister also referred to the plan for “green” ships: “I announced during the summer 300 million euros from the Green Fund plus 700 million euros from the European Investment Bank – one billion in total – to renew the coastal shipping fleet, for the first time in many decades. With low-interest loans, professionals will be given the opportunity to acquire new, larger, faster, safer, “green” ships, with environmentally friendly fuels.”
Referring to ferry tickets, Mr. Kikilias noted that “we avoided a 15% increase in their prices, mainly thanks to the 50% reduction in port fees. This created healthy competition and brought reductions of up to 32% on high-speed ferries, always for economy class. I also remind you that we gave 40 million euros for the transport equivalent, covering a large part of the ticket for our islanders.”
V. Kikilias: “The Coast Guard fleet is being renewed to guard the maritime borders” | ΥΝΑΝΠ
