Funds are stagnating, ports are collapsing, but they «bless» the small ports.

While the government presents Greek ports as an emerging «geopolitical hub» of the Mediterranean, a strategic corridor connecting Europe with Asia, trade flows, cruises, and energy security, the reality on the islands and in the major port centers paints a completely different picture. Instead of state-of-the-art gateways to Europe, many Greek ports resemble infrastructure operating at the limits of their capacity.

From the underwater damage in Santorini to the dark—literally—pier in Mytilene and the chronic problems in Patras, the picture that emerges leaves no room for misinterpretation: critical maritime infrastructure in the country is operating with worn-out systems, inadequate safety measures, and delayed maintenance. And yet, the government talks about «preventive actions» and «safe ports,» as if describing a parallel reality. And while the needs of the ports are pressing, the Recovery Fund—the pillar that was supposed to cover decades of underinvestment—has absorbed only 12.67% in the Ministry of Shipping's projects. Large islands with huge passenger traffic are absent from the list of interventions, while projects worth millions are directed to small ports with low traffic or even to two sacred monasteries on Mount Athos, which have some of the highest absorption rates in the entire ministry. And if one seeks «salvation» in the NSRF, one comes across a new paradox: projects that are repeated in different funding programs, such as in Agia Roumeli in Sfakia, where the same port appears to be funded... twice. And if you think this picture is already problematic, what follows is even more interesting...

«A »geopolitical hub" with a host of problems

Recently, the government has been insisting on presenting Greek ports as an emerging «geopolitical hub» connecting the Mediterranean with Europe, trade, shipping, and strategic transport. In this context, the Minister of Shipping Santa Claus Kikilias connects ports with the country's international role, and a new bill was recently submitted to Parliament by the minister promising «safe port operations and better service for citizens,» emphasizing that «we must act preventively, not chase problems after they arise.».

In practice, however, the problems have not only emerged, they have taken root. And according to a recent report (2024) by the Panhellenic Union of Merchant Marine Engineers (PEMEN), the image of the country's ports is nothing like a «hub,» but rather an infrastructure network operating at its limits. For example, in Santorini, the central pier has only one functional mooring position, as the rest have underwater damage that has remained unrepaired for years. Every arrival of a large ship becomes a potential hazard on an island with over 2 million arrivals per year.

In Mykonos, one of the most popular tourist islands in the Mediterranean, which welcomes millions of visitors and dozens of cruise ships every day during the summer, ship captains repeatedly warn that «improved lighting and repair of fenders» are needed. In Paros, inadequate signage and damage to infrastructure are putting the safety of operations to the test. In Patras, the situation is considered dangerous, as there has been no fender for three years, there is no pedestrian crossing, safety measures are deemed inadequate, and loading and unloading is hampered by limited land space and worn infrastructure on the piers. In Mytilene, engineers report a lack of fenders, inadequate dredging, and almost half of the pier without lighting, while there is no complete mapping of the new port, which seriously hinders safe approaches.

These are not minor problems; they are issues that touch on the heart of maritime safety. And the more the image of Greece as a hub country is promoted, the more the paradox becomes apparent: Greece aspires to become the gateway to Europe, while its main maritime gateways remain dangerous, inadequate, and often neglected.

With such absorption, you do not become a «gateway.»

One would therefore expect that the Recovery Fund's projects for shipping would focus on solving the widespread and dangerous problems recorded in Greek ports. After all, isn't that the Fund's objective? To strengthen resilience, fill decades-old gaps, and support critical infrastructure. But no! Reality seems to be moving in a different direction.

The Ministry of Shipping currently has 20 projects included in the Recovery Fund with a total budget of €88,757,453.4. Of these, only €4,757,332.25 had been paid out by the end of 2024, representing an absorption rate of 12.67% – a percentage that is difficult to reconcile with a country that proclaims its ports to be the «gateway to Europe.» For 2025, €6,487,843.33 has been committed, but the question remains: Where is it going?;

Certainly not in the ports that need them most. The list of projects includes interventions in small or isolated ports that are certainly not among the «high-traffic gateways.» Small ports that barely see a few boats a day, facilities that are used seasonally, or isolated locations that are not related to critical maritime transport suddenly take precedence over major problems.

Let us not forget the following: the projects of the Recovery Fund are not determined by the Commission. They are determined by the government of the day, which proposes, prioritises and includes whatever it considers to be a priority in the national plan. The EU approves the package as a whole, not the individual destinations of the funds. Therefore, the absence of large, congested, and dangerous ports from most of the Recovery Fund projects is not a mistake on the part of Brussels; it is a clear political choice on the part of Athens. And this is precisely where the paradox lies. While the government talks about a «geopolitical hub» and a «gateway to Europe,» the projects it has chosen to fund show that its gaze is turned... elsewhere.

And this brings us to the most paradoxical aspect of the Recovery Fund: the projects on Mount Athos. Among dozens of ports that serve millions of passengers a year, the RRF chose to direct significant resources to two sacred monasteries located in isolated areas with no tourist or commercial traffic: the Monastery of Iviron and the Monastery of Megisti Lavra.

At the Holy Monastery of Iviron, the project concerns purely port infrastructure, i.e. the infrastructure of the monastery's small port, which is used by monks, pilgrims, and supply boats. The budget amounts to €6,156,883.23, with payments up to 2024 reaching €2,145,000, while €1,305,000 has been committed for 2025. At the Holy Monastery of Megisti Lavra, the project concerns the monastery's port dock, the arsan where supply boats and small vessels serving the monastery dock. The project exceeds €7.36 million, with approximately €130,000 allocated for 2025 to keep it active. It is impressive, however, that the dock is estimated to cost €7.36 million, while the port infrastructure is estimated to cost ’only« €6.1 million.

And at this point, we reasonably cross ourselves. How is it possible that two small monastic port facilities are ahead of projects on islands with millions of tourists? How is it possible that the Monastery of Iviron has one of the highest absorption rates, while Santorini has one mooring and Mykonos is still asking for lighting? If one did not know the big picture, one would believe that the sacred monasteries are bearing the brunt of European shipping. What can one say? Bless, Lord, the European funds and wherever they want to go.

Déjà vu… in the works for Agia Roumeli

And to be fair, before jumping to conclusions, we asked ourselves: «Could it be that the large and problematic ports missing from the Recovery Fund have been covered by the NSRF?» So, we searched the NSRF and came across the «Transport 2021-2027,» which, according to official announcements, has launched interventions in more than 30 ports across the country with a total budget exceeding €180 million. And, of course, there is also the official map of the program, which shows in detail where in the country interventions have been planned. There, the same pattern is fully confirmed: funding is directed mainly to small or medium-sized island ports, many of which have intense seasonal tourist traffic but are not major national shipping hubs. For example, we find pier extension projects in Sikinos, projects in Ios, Antikythira, Megisti, and Mathraki.

On the contrary, the main ports are conspicuously absent from the map. Neither Piraeus, nor Thessaloniki, nor Patras, nor Igoumenitsa. And somewhere there, as we look at the NSRF projects, we get a slight feeling of déjà vu. Among them is the project «Port facility for passenger embarkation at the western end of Agia Roumeli Sfakion,« a large package of interventions worth €6 million that provides for a comprehensive upgrade of the port.

– from new port structures to improved access and infrastructure. And then we remember that there is already another project on the Recovery Fund list in exactly the same place: the «Construction of a ramp for E/G – O/G ships in Agia Roumeli, Sfakia,» with a budget of approximately €1.3 million, which concerns exclusively the reconstruction and extension of the ramp.

They are not exactly the same projects. However, they concern the same port, at the same location, and the ramp financed by the Recovery Fund is essentially part of the overall upgrade provided for in the NSRF project. This creates the impression of a double financial footprint at the same port: a large project being prepared under the NSRF and a smaller, immediate project under the Recovery Fund for the same location.

And so, Agia Roumeli ends up receiving more financial attention than half of the country's major ports combined.

Error 404 at the Port Authority

In June 2025, Documento revealed something that, for a country proclaiming its «digital transformation,» seems almost surreal: the central server of the Ministry of Shipping crashed, leaving the coast guard in the dark. According to the report, critical services, from incident recording systems to basic tools for daily operations, were down for hours.

And while all this was happening, the ministry has included in the Recovery Fund a project that promises to remedy precisely that: the «Digitization of the Archives of the Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy,» with a budget of €4,844,199.77. By the end of 2024, only €895,696 had been paid, while €2,367,411 has been committed for 2025.

– all for the first quarter. It should be noted that the project is being implemented by the Ministry of Digital Governance. If the server crashes and the systems are down, then it becomes clear that there is no serious infrastructure or maintenance in place.,

So the project is undermined by fundamental security and management problems. How can we talk about modernization and security when an entire ministry is left without a server in 2025? If basic digital services are not functioning, then how much of a «hub» can the country be considered?;