160 ships of Greek interests in the Middle East

A total of 32 Greek-flagged vessels are currently operating in the wider Middle East region — the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and Gulf of Oman, according to Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Stefanos Gikas, speaking earlier on Thursday in the Plenary Session of the Parliament.

Gikas provided updated data on ships of Greek interests in the war zone and the wider region.

The number of ships of Greek interest in the Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, Gulf of Oman, is 160 in total, including of course the ships with the Greek flag.

As he said, “there has been a clear decrease since Wednesday when there were 215 in the morning and 200 in the afternoon.”

The Plenary Session ratified, by a majority, Greece’s accession to the Regional Cooperation Agreement to Combat Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia. This is the first multilateral international Agreement that created an institutionalized system of regional cooperation for the exchange of information, operational coordination and early warning. The Agreement (Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia – ReCAAP) was signed in Tokyo on 11 November 2004.

New Democracy and PASOK voted in favor of the accession. KKE voted against. The other parties declared themselves ‘present’.

Any threat to navigation translates into increased costs, a risk to human life and turmoil that knows no borders

“From this Agreement, Greece has benefited in many ways because, as the largest country in shipping, it has every interest in being a member of it,” Gikas said and noted that Greece is and remains a global maritime power, the Greek-owned fleet transports a significant percentage of global trade, connecting continents, economies and societies. He also stressed that for Greece, maritime safety is directly linked to the national economy, employment, the protection of seafarers and its role in the international system.

“Any threat to navigation translates into increased costs, a risk to human life and turmoil that knows no borders,” Gikas underlined.