Greek Ministry of Shipping: Creation of new digital tools

In the next period, the Ministry of Shipping will proceed with the creation of three new digital tools, which concern the recording of port infrastructure on the islands, but also the better service of sailors and citizens without a physical presence.

The new actions are included in the framework of the programmatic agreement that was signed in 2021 between the Minister of Shipping Yiannis Plakiotakis and the Minister of Digital Governance Kyriakos Pierrakakis and included seven pillars, shipping, ports, marine tourism, coastal navigation, Coast Guard, Island Policy, Maritime Education.

Simplification and digitization of processes

Already two electronic applications, one concerning the issuance of a maritime brochure and the other scheduling appointments for processing cases of natural and legal persons, have been posted on “Diaugia”.

The aim of the decision for the electronic application “e-Thirida Nautikou” is to simplify and digitize the procedures to facilitate Greek seafarers and shipping companies in their transactions with the Ministry of Shipping.

Seafarers through an online application can request the Issuance of a Navy Brochure, the issue of a copy due to its theft – loss, damage or completion or due to a change from limited use in all branches and vice versa.

It will also be possible to print the application – responsible declaration with its unique reference number.

The application will be accessible through the Unified Digital Portal of the Public Administration gov.gr, while for its entry seafarers will enter with TAXISnet codes.

Competent Services for the access and use of the data registered in the application by the users, by reason of competence, are defined by the Directorate of Maritime Labor of the Headquarters of the Coast Guard – Hellenic Coast Guard and the registering Port Authorities.

The creation of the electronic platform is implemented by the Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy and operates under the responsibility of the maritime work directorate, while the ministry can assign to private individuals, all or part of the development and technical implementation of the project, supervision, upgrading and supporting the application during its operation and updating the functional requirements of the application.

The “Creation of a digital platform for scheduling appointments with the code name “myNAFTILIA.live.gov.gr” was also posted in the notice for the provision of case processing services for natural or legal persons.

Through this, natural persons, their authorized representatives as well as representatives of legal entities will be given the possibility to schedule service in person or by teleconference from the competent Departments of the Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy.

Each interested party can request an appointment for their service, choosing a specific day and time from the availability list provided by the platform, in order to be served by physical presence of the video conference.

In the case of remote service via video conference, a PC device, smart phone/tablet with activated camera and microphone is required, in order to have visual and auditory contact between the customer and the competent employee of the Agency, as well as for the demonstration on the camera of the necessary identification and legalization details of the transaction and the verification of identity by the competent employee.

For user access to the platform, the use of TAXISnet codes will be required.

Port infrastructures

A series of systemic interventions in the Greek islands, in order to promote the safety of terrestrial and underwater infrastructures, is intended to be implemented by the General Secretariat of the Aegean and Islands Policy, in the context of the implementation of a digital electronic platform.

Through this, there will be uniform monitoring of the port infrastructures on the islands and systematic interventions will be made.

Financing has already been secured from the Recovery Fund with pilots for the ports of Heraklion and Naxos, while the general secretary Manolis Koutoulakis signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) of Rutgers at the beginning of May. State University of New Jersey, USA.

The aim between the two sides is to cooperate in matters of research, education, training and technology transfer in the fields of planning, security, resilience, protection and port management, with an emphasis on islands and island regions.

In the context of this cooperation, the design and development of a “Surveillance and analysis system for resilience of port infrastructures and operations in ports of the island area” will be implemented.

According to the General Secretariat of the Aegean and Islands Policy the system will consist of three subsystems that will include (a) 3D digital mapping, characterization and monitoring of port infrastructures, (b) optimal management of resources and infrastructures, and (c) infrastructure resilience assessment .

From left to right, Ali Maher, Director of CAIT, Ms. Maria Boilé, Professor of the Department of Maritime Studies of the University of Piraeus, the Secretary General of the Aegean Manolis Koutoulakis, Mohsen Jafari, President of the Department of Industrial Processes and Systems of CAIT and Sotiris Theofanis, Principal Research Partner of CAIT.

Through the use of new technologies and advanced models the system will enable maintenance and operation managers of port facilities to monitor, effectively manage, identify problems, proactively intervene and plan maintenance projects.

CAIT with its relevant specialized experience will support the creation of the system through the transmission of knowledge and technology in the actions related to data analysis, development of models and a unified platform for resource and infrastructure management and resilience analysis, as well as in the final presentation of the system.

The implementation of the pilot program will be carried out by a scientific consortium, which will be made up of Greek research institutions of recognized prestige and coordinated by the National Center for Research and Technological Development (EKETA).

The Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy, with the proposal of the Secretary General of the Aegean and Insular Policy Manolis Koutoulakis, is expected to finance the creation of the first pilot system, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

It is worth noting that the government, in the framework of the operational multi-year program of the National Strategy for the Islands, plans to invest more than 400 million euros for the resilience of the critical infrastructure of the islands, with resources from the NSRF 2021-2027 and the Recovery Fund. while at the same time through the NEARCHOS program and the European Investment Bank, resources of over 200 million euros will be allocated for targeted sectoral interventions exclusively on the islands.