Ministry of Shipping: Changing the framework for disabled access to ships following Myrto’s incident

Extended reactions were caused by the complaint of Mary Kotrotsou, the mother of Myrto who was found cornered in a boat garage while returning from Astypalaia.

The press spokesman for up. Nikos Alexiou, speaking to SKAI today, pointed out that changes were foreseen in a bill that had been put to public consultation in the summer and the amendment of PD 44 has entered the final straight, covering the legislative gap that existed for the movement of disabled people.

“There will be new specifications for ships with lifts, platforms, elevators for the autonomous movement of persons with reduced mobility,” he said, among other things.

In particular, as provided by a Presidential Decree, all ships of the shipping industry will have to be equipped with new means of access and spaces of specific specifications, to facilitate access for disabled people, pregnant women, and elderly people.

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Many ships already have such mechanisms, however, there was no relevant legislation providing for specific specifications, as until now such was not mandatory.

For this reason, the Ministry of Shipping has completed the drafting of a Presidential Decree, after consultation, which will oblige all shipping companies, regardless of their size, to create on board their vessels suitable mechanisms for easy access for such persons.

The relevant Presidential Decree, after being signed by the headquarters of the Coast Guard and the Minister of Shipping, Christos Stylianidis, is expected to “take the road” for approval by the Council of State. Specifically, special sanitary facilities, lifts to access the decks and special ramps will have to be created.

Myrto’s mother described the incident

After the uproar caused by the post made by Myrto’s mother, in which she complained that the girl was cornered in the ship’s garage on their return from Astypalaia, the first move was made to take action.

Maria Kotrotsou described what both her daughter and herself experienced on the SKAI show this morning, noting that after the complaint, she was informed that the mate who created the problem would be transferred, with the company and the captain apologizing.

“I went through an unbelievable inconvenience, they put the car in an hour early and in the wrong place. I could have gotten around it if that was all it was but unfortunately, when we were due to get off they called me to get off early. They had the kid for 15 minutes in the hold, which we all know the smell that this particular place gives off. They passed all the drivers because in the meantime they had to go to their seats. This was all happening at sea, the ship had not yet docked. After all the people had passed over it, we were brought back up again, she even almost hurt her leg. There was also the risk of catching something because she wasn’t wearing a mask due to her respiratory problem.

On leaving I thought it appropriate to tell my complaint to the boatswain, and he pointed me to the first mate. I stopped to express my displeasure and was met with apathy and “Ohhhh”. “So what?” he replied. That’s where I caught fire. “If it were your child, is that what you would do? I want your name.” With a flourish, he gave it to me and shouted for me to give him my details. That’s where the theatrics started,” said Myrto’s mother and quoted the dialogue with the consul: “I will sue you for calling me names” she complained that he told her. “I didn’t call you names” she retorted. “You think so,” he replied.

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