Heraklion, 12th January 2017: Articles which recently appeared on the Greek press have raised the issue of a possible reduction of the personnel employed by Minoan Lines both onboard and ashore, following the non-renewal by the Company of the expired time charter contracts of the vessels employed on the Italy-Greece Adriatic route for 2017 and its decision to focus on the Greek domestic market.
The Board of Directors of Minoan Lines wishes to reply to the above mentioned statement by declaring that it is totally unfounded and misleading as the Company has no intention at all to reduce its personnel employed either ashore or at sea.
On both the Italian-flag vessels Cruise Europa and Cruise Olympia, whose owner is Grimaldi Euromed SpA and which continue operating on the Venice-Ancona-Igoumenitsa-Patras route under the logo “Grimaldi Minoan Lines”, the number of Greek seafarers employed onboard (about 60% of the total crew) will remain absolutely unchanged. The same applies for the administrative staff employed at all Minoan offices in Crete and continental Greece.
The decision of the Grimaldi Group to take under its management the Adriatic route from its daughter company Minoan Lines will allow the Group to better exploit its brand potential, in particular the marketing and advertising synergies between all Grimaldi companies operating in various European countries, in the benefit of cargo and passenger flows to and from Greece.
Minoan Lines’ personnel has given a big contribution to the strengthening of the Group’s presence in the Greek market in recent years and its dedication, hard work and professionalism is highly needed in order to face any future challenges.
Emanuele Grimaldi, President of the BoD of Minoan Lines & of Grimaldi Euromed SpA
Αntonis Maniadakis, Managing Director of Minoan Lines