“For the first time in decades, the Greek shipping industry has not been updated with any new vessel for almost 10 years,” notes specialist shipping consultancy XRTC in its application report for the sector. Although this negative record, resulting from the financial crisis and lack of planning, was broken with the arrival of 3 small aircatamarans from Hellenic Seaways a few days ago, “the fact is that the current state of the fleet is a first-class opportunity to start a new investment cycle with the construction of new vessels or even with the acquisition of modern second-hand,” emphasizes XRTC. However, as elsewhere in the world, the market here is also called upon to find technical solutions and capital for the construction of new environmentally friendly ships. It is estimated that this new cycle of fleet renewal will require an investment of between 2.5 and 3 billion euros in the case of renewal of ships older than 25 years.

The report also notes that in addition to investing in three catamarans, Attica Enterprises and Minoan Lines have made much larger investments in recent years to install suitable desulfurization catalysts (scrubbers). In this context, a funding mechanism was proposed to the Recovery Fund with incentives for the renewal of the coastal fleet and at the same time a special treatment through the “Nearchos” program, as well as ESPA 2021-2027. In fact, according to XRTC, the Hellenic Maritime Chamber is seeking €4.5 billion from European funds on behalf of the state in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance.