The Port of
Piraeus served as the port of Athens since
ancient times.
Early Antiquity 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,
Themistocles 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 479 BC, turning Piraeus into a great military and commercial harbour, which served as the permanent navy base for the mighty Athenian fleet.
Late Antiquity and Middle Ages In the late 4th century Piraeus went into a long period of decline; the harbours were only occasionally used for the
Byzantine fleet and the town was mostly deserted throughout the
Ottoman occupation of Greece.
Present In 2002 the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) and the Greek government signed a concession agreement. The Greek government leased the port zone lands, buildings and facilities of Piraeus Port to PPA for 40 years. In 2008 the duration of the concession agreement was modified from 40 to 50 years. With this modification the lease is ending in 2052. Since the
Greek government-debt crisis started in late 2009 the Greek government planned to
privatize several state-owned assets. These assets are believed to be worth around 50 billion euros. One of these assets is the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA). The port is a major employer in the region.
Ownership The port is owned by the Greek state and operated by Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) which is majority owned by
China COSCO Shipping (the successor of
China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO)), the 3rd largest container ship company in the world. In 2003 the port had its
IPO, after which the port was majority owned by the Greek state (74.5%), while the rest was held by investors. In 2009, Greece leased the land of dock 2 and what would become dock 3 (both container berths) to COSCO's subsidiary
COSCO Pacific for 35 years. COSCO paid 100 million Euros each year as part of this arrangement. "The port's geographic advantages and the quality services offered by us, have helped deliver rapid progress, in a crisis era" said Fu Chengqiu, managing director of Piraeus Container Terminal in 2012. With COSCO's investment, the port had broken their 2006 record of 1.5 million
TEUs handled by 2011, with dock 2 (COSCO) handling 1.18 million TEUs and Dock 1 (Greek) handling 500,000 TEUs. In 2009 the financial crisis had brought the TEU volume down to 450,000 for the whole port. In 2014 The
Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), the Greek government's privatization agency, sought to sell a majority stake of the port to finance debt. In 2016, COSCO bought 51% of the port from the HRADF for 280.5 million Euros. As per an
escrow, COSCO has paid 90 million more Euros for an additional 16% stake by 2021, contingent on COSCO making certain investments in the port, including passenger and cruise expansions, dredging, and expansion of the car terminal. As of 2020, the operating company of the Port of Piraeus is majority owned by COSCO with 67% of shares (16% in escrow shares).
Under COSCO ownership In October 2009 Greece leased docks 2 and 3 from PPA to the
China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (in short: COSCO) for a 35-year-period. For its presence at the port COSCO is paying 100 million euros every year. According to an interview in 2012 with Harilaos N. Psaraftis, a professor of maritime transport in Athens, in some cases the salaries of workers were $181,000 a year with overtime before the 20% general pay-cuts imposed on public employees. Due to union safety rules a team of nine people was required to work a
gantry crane. COSCO pays around $23,300 and only requires four people at a crane. As a result, revenue and profits soared. In 2017 the Athens stock exchange listed company (OLP) almost doubled its pre-tax profits from 11 to 21.2 million euros. The Piraeus Port Authority S.A. (PPA), which operates the country’s largest port, announced that total revenue reached 230.9 million euros ($249.82 million), marking a five percent increase from 2023, according to a press statement. Pre-tax profits rose to 112.9 million euros, reflecting a 17.4 percent increase compared to 2023, while after-tax profits climbed to 87.4 million euros, up by 30.8 percent year-on-year. == Labour relations ==