PRESS RELEASE 5 and 6 Audit Visits within the Project Work phase of the training course Port Environmental Manager The Ports of Igoumenitsa and Patras Greece, 18 and 19 January 2012 The Port of Igoumenitsa The Port of Patras Located on Greece s northwestern frontier and just a short distance from the island of Corfu, the port city of Igoumenitsa opens up a whole new Greece waiting to be discovered. Today s Igoumenitsa is a modern town largely rebuilt after its complete destruction is in the Second World War. It is strategically located on a very popular cruise routes and provides prime access to a uniquely fascinating new destination. In addition, the new port s capability to accomodate modern cruise vessels of all types is rapidly becoming a reality. With the infrastructure project, a state of the art terminal dedicated to cruising will be delivered in 2012. Located in Western Greece (N 38:15.5; E 021:44.1), Patras Port is the main gateway togreece from Italy and Western Europe. Patras Port land area is a narrow strip of land, whichis separated from the city of Patras by the railway line and the Othonos Amalias road. The port has four main piers (North, Astiggos, Agiou Nikolaou and Gounaris) which form threeharbours (north, central and south) that are protected by a detached breakwater. The port wharfs can serve cargo ships up to 25,000 register tons and passenger/car ferry ships up to 16,000 register tons and up to 200 meters long. cruising will be delivered in 2012. The Port land area is separated from the surrounding urban area by a wall clogged with railings. The entry and exit of vehicles and people is facilitated by a system of seven (7) gates.
The audit visit in Igoumenitsa The Staff Universus composed by Alina Maddaluno as didactical Tutor of the training course Port Environmental Manager, supported by two External Media Experts, Vincenzo Ardito and Andrea Tedeschi, has been welcomed by the Igoumenitsa team of the course: the Mentor, Mr. Grinias Konstantinos, Head of the spatial management and sustainable development division and the Trainee, Anastasopoulos Despina. After an accurate visit to the main gates of the Port, included the Ferry Terminal, we have dealt with the outgoing results of the Project Work in progress and interviewed Mr. Konstantinos, asking him some questions about the management of the environmental aspects in Igoumenitsa Port. We have also met The Managing Director of Igoumenitsa Port Authority, Thomas Kitsantas.
The audit visit in Patras The Staff Universus composed by Alina Maddaluno as didactical Tutor of the training course Port Environmental Manager, supported by two External Media Experts, Vincenzo Ardito and Andrea Tedeschi, has been welcomed by the Igoumenitsa team of the course: the Mentor, Mr. Antipas Stravros, Representative of Patras Port Autohrity and the Trainees, Kanellopoulou Maria, Galani Konstantina, Kolokythas Gerasimos. After an accurate visit to the turistic gate of the Port, included the Ferry Terminal, we have dealt with the outgoing results of the Project Work in progress and interviewed Mr. George Zeppetos, President of Patras Port Authority,asking him some questions about the management of the environmental aspects in Patras Port.
The interview to Mr.Grinias Konstantinos Development Director of The Port of Igoumenitsa, by Alina Maddaluno 1. Q.:Good morning Mr.Grinias. As first question I would like to ask you if you are implementing an environmental policy in your port. If yes, in which way? If not, why? A.: Wes, we are implementing actually an environmental policy, we are trying now to enter an Ecoport, actually we are the third Ecoport in Greece. We are trying to follow everything under the eco - guidelines in order to follow all the policies to be eco friendly. We are also implementing an environmental management plan, planning in the near future to have the ISO 14001 Certification. 2. Q.: Are you managing some environmental projects? If yes in which way are you managing them in the managerial structure? A.: Beside Ecoport8, the lead environmental project, we are following in many times the environmental protection. We hope in the near future to be able to have ISO 14001 Certification but it is only a matter of time. Our top priorities are environmental protection and we are planning to do all the projects in an eco friendly way. 3. Q.: Have you got some specific environmental issues that you need to manage? If yes, how? A.: Yes, we have. In particular we are managing some specific environmental issues, such as :waste management and pollution. 4. C.: Could you indicate in what way the environmental issues interfere with your economic interests? S.: We are trying to harmonize our economic interests and environmental problems. It is not always easy, it needs a lot of investments in activities and projects but we find especially Ecoport 8 project good means to overcome some problems concerning what you asked about. 5. Q.: Could you indicate what are the major changes that would affect the port infrastructure in case of Environmental standards implementation and operations(iso 14001 or EMAS) A.: Actually, any current change of our port is new. Igoumenitsa Port is in a continuous development and everything is being done according eco guidelines. An example is, the water wall in order to protect caves from erosion. We don t need to do any change in infrastructure, just going to provide some monitoring equipment to count the air pollution or some technical instruments to buy no changes. Ecoport 8 is a good tool for us to omogenise the guidelines.
Edited by Universus Communication Staff 16/02/2012 http://www.ecoport8.eu SEE programme http://www.southeast-europe.net