Piraeus Port Authority
| Port of Piraeus | |
|---|---|
Part of the port of Piraeus
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| Location | |
| Country | Greece |
| Location | Piraeus |
| Coordinates | 37°56′31″N 23°38′10″E / 37.941944°N 23.636111°ECoordinates: 37°56′31″N 23°38′10″E / 37.941944°N 23.636111°E |
| Details | |
| Operated by | Piraeus Port Authority (: ) |
| Owned by | (Owner of Piraeus Port Authority:) COSCO Group (67%) Greek Shipping Union (33%) |
| Type of harbor | Natural/Artificial |
| Size | 3.900 ha (35 sq km) |
| Employees | 3.181 (2015) |
| President | Giannis Kouvaris |
| Statistics | |
| Vessel arrivals | 47,839 vessels (2014) |
| Annual cargo tonnage | 73.1 million tonnes (2014) |
| Annual container volume |
 6.58 million TEU (2014) |
| Passenger traffic |
39.6 million people (2014) |
| Annual revenue |
€21.72 billion (2014) |
| Net income |
€1.393 billion (2014) |
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Website www.olp.gr |
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The Port of Piraeus, as the largest Greek seaport, is one of the largest seaports in Europe and the world, located in the Mediterranean Sea basin. The Port of Piraeus served as the port of Athens since the ancient times.
Today, the Port of Piraeus is a major employer in the region, with more than 2,500 employees who provide services to more than 40,000 ships and 20.000.000 passengers every year, and is operated by the Piraeus Port Authority S.A.. According to Lloyd's list for top 100 container ports in 2015 Piraeus ranked 8th in Europe and 3rd the Mediterranean sea. This rapid growth is expecting to make Piraeus the biggest commercial port in the Mediterranean by 2016.
Until the 3rd millennium BC, Piraeus was a rocky island connected to the mainland by a low-lying stretch of land that was flooded with sea water most of the year. It was then that the area was increasingly silted and flooding ceased, thus permanently connecting Piraeus to Attica and forming its ports, the main port of Cantharus and the two smaller of Zea and Munichia. In 493 BC, initiated the fortifications of Piraeus and later advised the Athenians to take advantage of its natural harbours' strategic potential. In 483 BC, the Athenian fleet left the older harbour of Phaleron and it was transferred to Piraeus, distinguishing itself at the battle of Salamis between the Greek city-states and the Persians in 480 BC. In the following years Themistocles initiated the construction of the port and created the ship sheds (neosoikoi), while the Themistoclean Walls were completed in 471 BC, turning Piraeus into a great military and commercial harbour, which served as the permanent navy base for the mighty Athenian fleet. However, in the late 4th century BC began a long period of decline for Piraeus; the harbours were only occasionally used for the Byzantine fleet and the city was mostly deserted throughout the Ottoman occupation of Greece.
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Wikipedia