Port

A Greek ferry with 80 passengers on board was the first ship to dock at Piraeus port on 2020, state-run news agency ANA-MPA reported Wednesday.

Olympus, operated by Sea Speed Ferries, arrived at the port at 2.52 a.m. on Wednesday morning, after completing the journey from Rethymno to Piraeus, with stops in Santorini and Milos.

Global Ports Holding, a subsidiary of Global Yatırım Holding, has announced that it signed a 15-year management service agreement with Ha Long Sun Limited Liability Company for the Ha Long International Cruise Port located in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

Global Ports is the world's largest independent cruise port operator.

Piraeus is expected to be among the top four ports in Europe for 2019 in terms of container traffic, and the top in the Mediterranean, as Cosco-owned Piraeus Port Authority saw the unloading of the 5 millionth container to pass through the port this year, aptly from a Cosco ship.

Cyprus' ministry of tourism is teaming up with Israeli authorities to promote the east Mediterranean as a prime cruise line holiday destination.

The tourism minister, Savvas Perdios, told The Associated Press Wednesday that the government is also in advanced talks with Egypt to offer cruise packages to include Cypriot and Egyptian ports of call.

Let me start with a bit of wonderful news: Next Tuesday, Nov. 6, the Chang'an Cargo Train (a.k.a. China Railway Express) is to make a short stop in Ankara. It is then going to pass under the Bosphorus, using the Marmaray tunnel. This is going to be the first direct cargo train traveling from Xian, China, to Europe, arriving at Prague passing through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia.

Wednesday's decision by the Port Planning and Development Commission, to be published on Thursday, opens the way for Cosco's 800-million-euro investment in the port of Piraeus.

It will affect the operation of part of the metro lines in the capital Athens. They also stop trams, buses and city rail.

Sailors and port officials are also on strike. Ferries and cargo ships will not move and ports are closed.

The railway staff will be on strike in 24 hours, but their protest will start on Thursday morning.

Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), operator of Greece's largest port, has increased its investment plans to attract more business at one of Europe's largest harbors, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.
OLP, majority owned by China's COSCO Shipping, has submitted to Greece's shipping ministry an 800-million-euro plan, government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters.

British police have seized nearly 1.3 tonnes of heroin hidden between towels in a container ship at the port of Felixstowe which is the United Kingdom's busiest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. This was reported by DPA and France press reports.

The agency cites a statement issued today by the UK's National Organized Crime Unit.

The situation on Samothraki, with the ferry connection to the island in the northern Aegean cut off for 12 days earlier this month, brought to light the myriad problems afflicting Greek ports.