Separate, but with consequences, problems found in the issue of manning their ships coastal shipping his checks registered Coast security the previous twenty-four hours. In one case, the captain of the 2wayferries passenger ferry “Achaios” was arrested, and in another, the Seajets “Caldera Vista” ferry, which serves a barren intra-Cycladic route, was banned for at least 14 hours. However, this public service, as fruitless commercial lines subsidized by the state are called, remained unfulfilled from the previous Friday until yesterday Monday, resulting in the first reactions of mayors and commercial associations in connection with the Easter holidays. Ministry of Shipping ordered extraordinary inspections of all Greek shipping vessels and ferries in addition to one or two regular annual inspections. In total, “about 300 ships will be inspected” before Palm Sunday. indicated in “K” Minister of Shipping Yannis Plakiotakisadding that in all cases, including those mentioned above, “everything provided by law will apply.”

Currently, no serious problems have been identified with the ships that prohibit their navigation, refer to “K” ministry sources. However, one issue that is emphasized to avoid the possibility of human error is adherence to crew schedules. Crews must rest at least 8 hours after each 10-hour shift, sources at the shipping ministry said.

On regular passenger ferries (C/CC/C), which operate on routes longer than 10 hours, the second crew rests in the ship’s cabins, according to shipping industry sources. The situation is more complicated for high-speed vessels, which do not have crew rest areas and are forced to transfer at ports, they add.

Every 10 hours of shift, the teams must rest at least 8 hours.

Both cases identified by the competent port authorities concern violations of the manning rules. On Sunday, Aegina Port Authority officials proceeded to arrest the captain of the E/GO/G “Achaios”, which is owned by 2wayferries and operates on the routes of the Saronic Ferries joint venture. In particular, during an identity check carried out by officials of the Port Authority of Aegina, it was found that the crew was incomplete by two people. A preliminary investigation was carried out and the process of imposing the established administrative and disciplinary sanctions was initiated, while the vessel was prohibited from going to sea. After the composition was restored, he was allowed to sail for Piraeus.

In the case of Caldera Vista, owned by Seajets, which operates an intra-Cycladic civil service based in Syros, the 10-hour limit was found to have been exceeded, resulting in a mandatory 14-hour crew rest stop. This happened at the end of last week, when the current route for this season was launched. However, for reasons not yet known, Seajets did not operate any routes until Monday yesterday. According to the competent authorities, “the order of Article 21 of Law 4189 will be observed and the established administrative sanctions will be applied, including a fine and a summons with apologies.” In addition, another ship of the same company, the Super Jet, which was on a regular (not fruitless) route from Piraeus, did not complete the Cyclades route yesterday, citing worse weather than that predicted in the weather report. The islands felt the simultaneous absence of two ships in the Cyclades, resulting in concerns about their proper shipping coverage.

However, while the ministry says that “implementation of the manning provisions will be constantly and strictly monitored”, sources in the coastal shipping industry state that “particularly on high-speed vessels, companies that do not have enough staff for the second crew will need to rethink planning and the duration of their routes to meet the requirements.