Six decades after its first trip around the Argosaronic Gulf, Yiannis Latsis’ historic passenger ship Neraida returns to its traditional destinations as a floating museum of business history.

In the second half of September Neraida, which has adorned many postal cards and has also appeared in movies, will return to the familiar waters of the ports of Spetses, Hermione, Hydra, Poros , Methana, Aegina,  Its visitors will have the chance to tour the living history of Greek coastal shipping.

Neraida was constructed in 1939 and during World War II operated as a rescue boat. It was bought by Yiannis Latsis at the end of 1949 and came to strengthen his coastal activity and bring a taste of comfort and luxury to Greek coastal shipping which was neglected until then. Neraida traveled with visitors to the islands of the Argosaronic Gulf for 25 years, constituting not the most profitable, but certainly one of the most favorite activities of its owner.

Yiannis Latsis and his family recognize the ship’s importance relating to the starting of the business and they never sent the ferry for dismantling. On the contrary, they kept the ship decommissioned in the port facilities of Elefsina for more than 30 years.

Today, Neraida will sail back to familiar waters, serving at the same time as a monument of Greek coastal shipping, an impressive piece of reconstruction of an old hull, as well as a museum of the business course of its owner.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Greek shipowners, are more and more moving their financing and ship orders to China, given the cheap credit and lower shipyard costs there.

As stated in the article, Greek shippers operate 16% of the world’s fleet of dry-bulk and container vessels, and about a quarter of all oil tankers. By cutting costs aggressively, they have overcome the global economic crisis better than many of their German, Scandinavian and Japanese competitors—holding on to market share despite a sharp slowdown in international trade since 2008.

Greek shipping magnates, being the biggest and most influential buyers of new ships- heavily courted by shipbuilders in places like Japan and South Korea – their growing Chinese orders could influence other global buyers, the paper noted.

As of the end of September this year, Greek shipowners had ordered 188 vessels from Chinese yards, compared with 217 from Korea, according to Athens-based XRTC Business Consultants.

The budding Sino-Greek shipping partnership dates back to 2010 when China’s then-Premier Wen Jiabao, while on a visit to Athens, offered $5 billion in soft loans to Greek shipowners if they opted for China’s yards to build new vessels.

“The Greeks are the world’s dominant buyers both in terms of new and used vessels so they are contributing to the glut,” said Jonathan Roach, senior analyst at London-based Braemar Securities Ltd.

The luxurious yacht “Eclipse” of Russian Roman Abramovich, is located in the Venetian Port of Chania in Crete. The yacht was anchored northeast of the harbor entrance, so as not to obstruct the navigation. Due to the length and depth of the vessel it was not possible to come into the old port.

The occupants of Eclipse took the necessary documents from the port authorities and they disembarked in Chania. At the same time, the Venetian harbor in Chania was overcrowded and people were taking photographs of the most luxurious yachts in the world.

The yacht “Eclipse” is the epitome of technology and luxury. It is 164 meters in length and has two helipads, 24 suites – hostels, two swimming pools and discos. It also has three auxiliary boats and a mini submarine with the ability to dive in 50 meters, while the crew consists of 70 people. Moreover, the yacht has rocket launchers, bulletproof windows, as well as shields and laser technology.

The luxury yacht arrived in Crete from Karpathos but it is not clear if the Russian owner was among the passengers. The luxury yacht cruises in Greek islands and has already passed from Rhodes, Symi and Kos.

According to sources the next destination is Santorini.

The market research company “Great Place to Work” announced the top 25 multinational companies, through the annual international list- World’s Best Multinational Workplaces 2013.

These companies have the best working environment, and among them, four Greek companies that are distinguished on the list. Microsoft, Diageo Hellas, MARS Hellas and Novartis Hellas, are awarded for their high quality workplace.

The famous list of World Best Multinational Workplaces is based on a database of survey companies which have been distinguished in the national lists of Best Workplaces.

In addition, there are some specifications of a candidate company to participate in this list. The criteria are varying depending on company’s distinction in five national lists of Best Workplaces, employing less than 50 people in each country, in which is differed. A candidate company should also dispose 5,000 employees globally as 40% of its workforce works abroad.

SAS Institute in Greece is distinguished first in category of 20-49 employees of the List Best Workplaces in Greece. But it is not included in the global list, since employees are less than 50 people on a local level.

Google is on top of the list, as the industry W.L. Gore completes the top five. The rest of the best companies are listed below:

1 Google
2 SAS Institute
3 Netapp
4 Microsoft (1st in Greece, 50-250 persons)
5 W. L. Gore & Associates
6 Kimberly Clark
7 Marriott
8 Diageo (10th in Greece, 50-250 persons)
9 National Instruments
10 Cisco
11 Autodesk
12 Monsanto
13 BBVA
14 American Express
15 Hilti
16 Telefónica
17 Accor
18 Quintiles
19 SC Johnson
20 Fedex Corporation
21 Atento
22 Mars (5th in Greece, 50-250 persons)
23 McDonald’s
24 The Coca – Cola Company
25 Novartis (9th in Greece, more than 250 persons)

Members of the royal family of Bahrain are in the luxury yacht which sailed into the port of Kissamos in Chania, Crete. The yacht named “My Alwaeli” is surrounded by  Greek Coast Guards and security measures are extremely strict.

According to sources, Queen of Bahrain Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa is among the passengers. The yacht arrived on October 29 and is currently not known how long the luxury yacht will be in Kissamos port.

Moreover, the trip started on October 28 from Piraeus and then members of the royal family visited Anafi, Kythera and Antikythera with final destination the island of Crete.

The royal luxurious yacht Alwaeli has is 68 meters long and can accommodate 24 passengers in 12 suites. The yacht has a 19 people boat crew at its disposal.

According to sources, the cargo ship “nourm” flagged with Sierra Leone, transferred a large amount of weapons. It was identified yesterday evening near Imia and was escorted to the port of Symi this morning.

After an investigation, the cargo ship had troubled the authorities in the past for drug trafficking and when the port board appeared, changed its direction.

Eventually, the ship stopped and was led to the port of Symi, under the port escort. The ship had started from Ukraine with destination Eskenteroum in Turkey, carrying 20,000 AK 47 guns (Kalashnikov)

Moreover, some containers were found and there could be a large quantity of explosives in their interior. The ship is currently being transported to the port of Rhodes for a thorough check.

It is noted that there are contradictions regarding the final destination as the system marin trafik declared the port Tartus, in Syria. Another electronic system indicated the destination to be Tripoli, in Libya, while the captain declared Eskenteroum Turkey! Constant updates are being given to the Minister of Shipping, Maritime Affairs, and Aegean Varvitsiotis, while an official announcement is expected.

Recently, the port control has been intensified in the east sea border of the country by order of the Minister of Marine, due to geopolitical developments in the eastern Mediterranean.

A cargo ship with the Sierra Leone flag was found near Imia last Thursday. The Coast Guard was alerted by the ship’s peculiar course and proceeded to escort it to the port of Rhodes, where today, around noon, the check of the ship’s Nour M containers began. According to the ship’s documents it is carrying weapons and ammunition. Sources indicated that the first three containers were filled with small and larger caliber bullets (for Kalashnikov weapons).

According to the Ministry of Mercantile Marine, out of the ship’s 59 containers, 56 are filled with 20,000 Kalashnikovs and ammunition such as bullets, etc. However, the exact content will be determined after opening the containers in the presence of prosecutors and customs agents.

The consignor seems to be a Ukrainian company based in Kiev that was part of UN research in 2011, which mentioned that “the company is intervening in order to break the embargo on arms supply against the Gaddafi regime.”

On Saturday the Coast Guard announced that by order of the Authority for Combating Money Laundering the check of the load would start on Monday, in the presence of the Customs department, while the ship is guarded by Special Forces of the Port Authority of Rhodes.

The Minister of Mercantile Marine, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, is constantly being informed on the progress of the case. He arrived in Rhodes by helicopter along with the head of the Coast Guard, Dimitris Bantias, and is currently providing information to the Ministries of Public Order and National Defense.

The eight-member crew consisting of foreign people is currently being held in the Port of Rhodes.

The Minister of Mercantile Marine–Miltiadis Varvitsiotis–presented the new regulation for circulation tax on pleasure crafts comparing it to road tax. While justifying this amendment in front of the Parliament he spoke of revenue stimulation and restoration of social justice.

Responding to criticism that the Ministry is enforcing cheap taxes, he said that the new regulation is fair and fully functional, making the country more competitive.

Mr. Varvitsiotis reminded the Parliament that all the previous regulations didn’t bring anything for the government in terms of state revenue. He also presented actual cost data for the year 2012 reaching 40,000 Euros, and in 2011 reaching 150,000 Euros.

The Minister of Mercantile Marine also claimed that this regulation exempted boats up to 7 meters long, while the owners of 7 to 10 meter boats will have to pay 200 Euros in circulation taxes. Boats over 12 meters are charged 100 euros per meter yearly. The estimated revenue-–given that the Collection Agencies will do their job properly–reaches 20 million Euros per year.

Mr. Varvitsiotis talked of two incentives for boat owners. There will be a 50% reduction for commercial use and 30% reduction for the next year if the owners can prove that the boat did not leave the country during the year. He also spoke of two methods of payment either annually or monthly, with a 20% surcharge per meter.

Greece recently announced a new law that enforces taxes for circulation in sea. Anyone who thought of sailing through Greek waters this year will first have to read the following information concerning the tax.

The tax applies to small vessels of all nationalities, commercial or leisure that are over 7 meters in length and want to sail or moor anchor in Greek waters. The tax allows circulation for one calendar year only and the annual charges are:

For 7 to 8m vessels 200€
For 8 to 10m vessels 300€
For 10 to 12m vessels 400€

Every vessel over 12m is charged with 100€ per meter and have two option to reduce costs. The owners can either pay 10€ per meter per every month they stay in Greek waters or have a 30% discount on the annual fee if they are permanently based in Greece.

The circulation tax is valid for the whole period that was covered by the payment but it is not repayable in case the vessel is taken outside the country.

The law derived from two years of conversation that revealed two main oppositions: tourism versus taxation need. Since the law became definite many owners with boats based in Greece have decided to leave Greek waters, while others are seeking concessions for specific boat categories in order to avoid relocating.

Cyprus’ Government opts for the opportunity to create a ferry line that will link Cyprus and Greece and pushes towards this direction. “We are examining every possibility and evaluating our economic resources,” said the Minister of Communications, Tasos Mitsopoulos, confirming the Government’s intentions.

He also added that “a ferry to Greece would boost Cyprus’ tourism sector and build a strong commercial relation between Greece and Cyprus. This relation will increase our opportunity of exporting products to both the Greek and European markets.”

In addition the creation of a new ferry line that will link the two countries would offer Cypriots and foreign tourists, an alternative way to travel from and to the island.

It has been almost a decade since the ferry service that linked Greece and Cyprus has halted. The regular Salamis Lines ferry stopped their scheduled trips in 2002. The ferry line was linking Rhodes, Limassol, and Haifa. The other ferry line — Louise Cruise Lines — that previously sailed weekly from Piraeus and Limassol during summers, halted as well some years ago.

The Merchant Marine Academy of Macedonia, Greece, has reached an operational stalemate. The facilities that are right now accommodating about a thousand students and who will in the future become bridge machinery officers in the merchant marine, are showing static problems that haven’t been repaired for years. The laboratories filled with expensive equipment are abandoned and the classrooms are cold. As a result, the courses take place in the kitchen or the former warehouses.

It should be noted that the almost one thousand students have not yet received their student IDs, while the number of permanent teachers has dramatically declined, causing more than 85% of course hours to be taught by the temporary teaching staff.

“We demand the immediate intervention of the administration and the scientific and professional bodies working in the field of merchant shipping, in order to directly address the operational problem, to avoid adverse developments and find stable and sustainable solutions,” said the Merchant Marine Academy of Macedonia representative.

The British newspaper Lloyd’s List has published its list of the top 100 most important entrepreneurs in the world of shipping. John Angelicoussis, head of Angelicoussis Shipping Group, was featured in the top five, while fourteen other Greeks were also included on the list.

Besides Angelicoussis, who right now owns the biggest Greek shipping group — at least in term of ships, 45 dry-bulk and 41 tankers — two more Greeks, Angeliki Frangou of Navios and George Economou of DryShips, were featured in the top 10.

Navios recently showed signs of growth since it added 50 more ships to its fleet and already agreed with HSH Nordbank to add five more container ships and five tanker ships.

DryShips is active in the tanker and container ship markets and has managed to stay afloat through the economic crisis. Its subsidiary involved in the oil platform sector, OceanRig, has presented DryShips with great profit and played a key role in the global establishment of the company.

The other Greeks featured on the list are Peter Livanos (22nd) and George Prokopiou (23rd) of the Union of Shipowners; Theodoros Veniamis (51st); Constantinos Constantakopoulos (57th), who is following the family tradition in the shipping sector; Nikos Tsakos (61st); Peter Georgiopoulos (69th); Evangelos Marinakis (73rd); Symeon Palios (77th); Petrops Pappas (80th); John Platsidakis (83rd); Dimitris Melissanidis (94th); and Haralambos Fafalios (96th).

The first cruise liner of 2014 to arrive at the Greek harbor of Piraeus was the Costa Deliziosa with 2,890 passengers.

The administration of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) organizes a special event for the first liner to berth in the harbor in the New Year.

As underlined by Giorgos Anomeritis, OLP’s President, “Shipping reduces insularity and boosts tourism in Greece.” In addition, on New Year’s day he presented to the crew and officers of the “Blue Star Paros,” the emblem of Piraeus harbor and gifts on behalf of OLP.

Greek shipowner companies are extremely busy during the first month of 2014, buying second-hand ships and also ordering newly manufactured ones to further increase their fleets.

During the first ten days of the new year, Greek shipowner companies seem to be moving at the same pace as 2013 when they broke all previous records in shipbuilding and marine markets, investing a total of over 19 billion dollars and renewing their fleet, the value of which is estimated at 101 billion dollars.

This crescendo of investments seems to be continuing through the first month of 2014 as Greek companies appear to have procured 15 ships in the second-hand market, investing more than 300 million dollars, while also giving an order for the construction of 19 new ships. According to the brokerage firm, Golden Destiny, second-hand markets show a 150% increase compared to the last working week of December, 2013, while the number of new ship orders has risen by 280% compared to one week ago.

Out of all the second-hand purchases, the brokerage firms are focusing on the investment by a Greek shipping company because of its en bloc purchase of four under construction bulk carriers that will be delivered in 2014. Compass Maritime announced that the purchase was made by Konstantinos Martinos’ shipping company, Thenamaris. Overall the Greece’s companies have bought 15 ships, 12 bulkers and 3 tankers.

The total number of containers handled in 2013 at the port of Piraeus exceeded all expectations, making Greece’s largest port the fastest growing in the world.

According to an article in Greek newspaper Kathimerini, the subsidiary of the Chinese company COCSO, which is managing all operations at Pier II and III of the Piraeus container terminal, last year handled 2.520 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), as containers are known, compared to the 2.4 million expected. With an additional 644,000 TEU handled by the Greek Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) at Pier I, total container traffic amounted to 3.163 million TEU. This means that Piraeus is the third largest port in the Mediterranean, along with rapid growth over the last three years and a doubling in size since 2011.

It is estimated that Piraeus will be the busiest container terminal in the Mediterranean by 2016. The port ranked 4th in 2012 in terms of TEU in the Mediterranean. The port of Valencia in Spain ranked first with 4.46 million TEU, followed by Algeciras, also in Spain with 4.1 million TEU and Ambarli in Turkey with 3.09 million. At the same time, the three busiest ports of northern Europe, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp (8.63 million TEU), saw a decline in container volumes.

The proximity of Piraeus to the Suez Canal, which is the European entry point for Asian imports, and its railway which links to the national and European network, saves around six days for goods bound for markets in central Europe, making Piraeus the preferred European port for Asian trade.

The busiest commercial ports in the Mediterranean in 2012 were:

1. Valencia (Spain)
2. Algeciras (Spain)
3. Piraeus (Greece, 2013)
4. Ambali (Turkey)
5. Gioia Tauro (Italy)
6. Marsaxlokk (Malta)
7. Genoa (Italy)
8. Barcelona (Spain)
9. Mersin (Turkey)
10. Las Palmas (Spain)

The Finance Ministry tax initiative that tripled the capacity tax on all vessels in Greece has caused the intense reaction of the Greek Shipowners Union. The president of the union, Theodoros Veniamis, described the three-year tax that applies to all ships belonging to Greece -based companies, regardless of their flag, as an obvious violation of the Greek Constitution.

According to Veniamis, this tax is canceling a union’s previous initiative for the optional doubling of the capacity tax for three years. Almost 3,000 ships, that represent the vast majority of the Greek fleet, had been committed to the voluntary doubling of their taxation.

The president of the shipowners expressed his hope that the Greek government will soon realize that the measure will not be efficient, as has been the case with other similar measures. He added that the revenues shortfall that the Greek government expects from the voluntary contribution could be covered by attracting more new vessels to the Greek register or discussing other proposals that would be mutually acceptable.

Veniamis noted that the Greek-owned fleet retained its global lead in 2013, controlling 16.25% of the world’s fleet based on capacity, 23.5% of the global tanker fleet and 18.5% of the world’s dry-bulk carriers.

According to Posidonia Exhibitions SA, Greek ship-owners set a new record of orders to shipbuilding companies in 2013. The number of orders made by Greek ship-owners is estimated at 25 percent of the global order book.

In fact, last year Greek ship-owners cashed 13 billion dollars to purchase 275 newly constructed vessels of more than 24.5m deadweight tonnage.

According to the global order book, the Greek ship-owners are the biggest investors for 2013 as they invested approximately 4.5 billion dollars in this sector.

A steady source of funds for the expanding Greek fleet is the stock exchange market, primarily of New York.

Since the Greek ship-owners have the largest independent fleet in the world, Greece’s government decided to make their contribution to the country’s finances obligatory. Until now, Greek ship-owners were not obliged to contribute in any way to the country’s finances as they had agreed with Greek Minister of Finance to do so voluntarily.

In particular, the Greek ship-owners will have to pay a tripled tonnage tax in order to help Greece’s economy recover. The Greek ship-owners have already expressed their frustration towards this new measure taken by the Greek government.  The President of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), Mr. Theodoros Veniamis claimed that this new measure is unconstitutional. He added that the problem is not the amount of money that many of the ship-owners will have to pay, but the fact that the Greek government violated its agreement with the Greek-shipping community.

The Greek-shipping community has made it crystal clear that it is willing to give the Greek government some time to reconsider this measure. However, if nothing changes, the Greek ship-owners threatened that their fleets will no longer sail under Greece’s flag or that their companies will be moved abroad.

Many luxurious yachts belonging to Greek tycoons remain unsold, many of which were built by some of Greece’s most famous. The luxurious past of these yachts and their historic connection with the famous Greek tycoons doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on attracting additional interest from any potential buyers.

“Christina O” is the name of a mega yacht that encapsulates the legend that Aristotle Onassis was. The luxury boat was named after the beloved daughter of the Greek Tycoon, Christina Onassis. Even though the ship was manufactured many years ago, it still impresses with its luxury and high design.  The yacht had in the past hosted many prominent figures of the political scene and showbiz. Even though the price has been dropped to 25 million euros, there is no one interested in purchasing the luxurious boat.

The extravagant mega yacht “Alexander” owned by Yiannis Latsis also remains unsold. It is about 122 meters and was manufactured in 1966 in a German shipyard. It was manufactured to be a cruise boat. “Alexander” is included on the list of most luxurious yachts in the world and features a disco-bar, a 27-seats cinema, a gym, a beauty salon and 40,000 cabins.

The luxurious yacht that has in the past hosted many famous figures of Hollywood belongs today to Spyros Latsis. This ship is available for purchase for 35 million euros.

The splendid super yacht of Constantine Alexander Goulandris, “Delma,” costs approximately 53 million euros. It is 85.2 m in length, with 18 suites, a beauty salon, a swimming pool and a spa. This ship is among the 100 biggest yachts in the world.

Another luxury yacht is “Ermis 2” owned by Yiannis Alafouzos. It is a boat renowned for its incredible speed and has been awarded for its high design too. Despite its unique design no one has shown interest in purchasing the boat that is available at the price of 13 million euros.