As the Piraeus Port Authority’s (PPA) container terminal has no system to control containers coming from Asia and the Middle East and being handled through Piraeus to ports in the US and Europe, foreign officials are constantly asking the Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy to take the initiative towards COSCO for thorough inspections.
The Ministry’s political leaderships from time to time keep raising this issue with the Chinese side, either at the level of the PPA administration or at the diplomatic level, but without receiving any clear answer, thus exacerbating the irritation of Americans and Europeans.
“This issue is of great concern to the Americans, but also to several Europeans, with the Germans and the Dutch leading the way. In every meeting it is one of the main issues they want to discuss with us,” a senior source in the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Affairs said.
From our side,” the same source continues, “we raise the issue of container control with the Chinese side at every opportunity. However, to date we have not received any response that provides a solution to the problem.”
In fact, the International Ship – Port Security Code (ISPS Code) is not applied in the cargo port of Piraeus.
For its part, the Greek side, within the framework of the possibilities provided by the existing legislation, given that the port of Piraeus is now a private company, is doing everything it can to cover even a small part of the controls required.
“Our technical capabilities,” the same sources say, “are very limited. We have only one vehicle equipped with X-rays and this does not belong to us, but to the customs authorities.
With their tolerance we use it as often as we can, but this is a drop in the ocean when you consider how many thousands of containers pass through the port of Piraeus every day to other ports in the US and Europe,” they conclude.
Environment and Golden Visa concerns Americans … But the Americans don’t stop there
They raise two more key issues that, in their opinion, need the immediate attention of the Greek side.
One issue is related to the environmental protection of COSCO’s actions at the port of Piraeus and the second is related to the massive acquisition of real estate by the Chinese around Greece’s largest port.
Specifically, the Americans argue that both the works for the new cruise terminal and the shipbuilding and repair zone are two activities that excessively burden the environment of the city of Piraeus and Perama without any care on the part of the PPA management to protect the residents.
With regard to the real estate market in Piraeus, they state that the massive purchase of real estate by Chinese people around the port of Piraeus has now turned a large part of the city into a Chinatown with all that this entails for the residents of the city.
According to available data from the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum, as of March 2024, there were 16,168 Golden Visa residence permits in Greece, of which 59.7% were for Chinese nationals.
The increase in Golden Visa limits recently decided by the government is expected to stem the flow of Golden Visa grants to Chinese nationals.