In August the Thessaloniki-Izmir connection

By Anastasia Vamvaka

The retrofit work is progressing and the first test voyages have begun. The Levante Ferries ship that will connect Izmir with Thessaloniki, with a stop at Mytilini, a new route in Greek and Turkish shipping, has “postponed” the start day of the routes, with the hope that they will all start by the end of August.

Many call this connection a “friendship line” which marks the company’s entry into international sailings, but also its debut on a line outside the Ionian, in a venture-bet. It is the second time that the company has taken a big risk, as it is the first company that its ship “Fior di Levante” has been converted as the first electrified ship of the local shipping industry. The installation has been done in the port of Kyllini while Levante Ferries fully covered the cost of electrifying the ship.

By the end of August, it is estimated that the Izmir-Thessaloniki ferry line will start. The ship has passed the necessary inspections which were approved, while it seems that the company’s contacts with the port, customs and other authorities of the two countries and the two ports involved in the route have also been completed. The discussions had a great “technical difficulty” as Turkey is not only not a country in the European Union but is also outside the Schengen zone, with the result that customs and other procedures for passengers and cargo are more demanding.

The line will be served by the “Smyrna di Levante” which is 160 m long and will have around 200 cabins. It will travel at 18 knots/hour, will be able to carry 930 passengers and 60 17 meter long trucks. The journey will last 12-14 hours and for the ship’s route to be profitable it is not enough just to transport trucks or passengers. The load should be “mixed,” they say. Otherwise, a ferry (for trucks only) would have been run, however it is estimated that this route is not profitable. The ship was refitted in Drapetsona and is now docked at the shipyards of Chalkida. Regarding the schedule of routes, the company’s intention is to make three arrivals and departures per week.

Since 2016, when the creation of the line was seriously considered by the governments at the time, it had become clear that it was a difficult undertaking as it does not compare to the Greece-Italy line or the more recent Greece-Cyprus line, which is between countries within the EU. , as procedures must be tested to make boarding and disembarking easy.

For this reason, in the port of Thessaloniki as well as in the port of Izmir, configuration work has begun, reminiscent of the control at an airport or the control for embarkation and disembarkation on cruise ships, as a special Schengen gate is required.

However, this also entails a risk of “competition” for the line, as the ship’s response times as well as boarding times must not exceed the road connection between the two cities. Practically, as long as it takes a passenger to pass the control, if he gets on board and reaches his destination, it should not take more than 12-14 hours, through the Kipi customs in Evros.

The contacts do not seem to be affected by the general climate that prevails in Greek-Turkish relations, with the Port Authorities of Smyrna showing particular interest. It is even said that to the extent that the work on the line increases over time, the Turkish Port Authorities also promise discounts on “port fees”. And this because the very high port fees of Smyrna, had stood in the way of the plans of the former mayor of Thessaloniki, Giannis Boutaris, for the routing of a ship on the Smyrna-Thessaloniki line, but without success.

It was judged at that time that the high berthing fees which were almost twice as much in the Alsanak port of Izmir than in the THA were an inhibiting factor for the realization of the line. The port of Alsanak in Izmir is a cargo port of Turkey, the second in capacity in terms of handling containers, with 26% of all Turkish exports, while a large part of the exports concerns fresh agricultural products. It is noted that the port also has a cruise terminal.

The first efforts to connect Thessaloniki-Izmir were started in 2016 by the then management of ΟΛTH, which asked to investigate the possibilities that exist in order to set up a ferry line between the two cities. On March 9, 2016, the first meeting between the delegations of the two ports took place in Izmir. In the same year, the then Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey, Alexis Tsipras and Ahmet Davutoglu, announced that the ports of Thessaloniki and Izmir would be connected by ferry, which was also confirmed by an announcement from the Greek-Turkish Supreme Council. The issue was raised again in 2019 during an Erdogan-Tsipras meeting at the Turkish presidential palace with both sides agreeing to promote the implementation of the line.

The company also recently purchased a new vessel, the Contessa de Levante ex-Queen Coral B, which was built in September 1999 in Japan. It is the sixth ship of its fleet. It is 140 meters long, 20.5 meters wide and develops a maximum speed of 24 knots and a service speed of 22 knots. As the company points out, “faithful to its development strategy and against the prevailing difficult conditions, it proudly welcomes its new acquisition and sixth ship of its fleet, the Ionian Princess. A ship of exceptional characteristics and specifications that changes the facts in the Ionian” .