The 22 large ferries still providing coastal shipping services across the Aegean Sea are suffering daily losses of 660,000 euros, market experts note.
Ekathimerini reports that these losses have come to a total of 20 million euros in just one month for the ferry operators, and will rise to 40 million if this situation continues – as expected – for two months.
Passenger traffic collapsed 75 percent last week and since Monday has dropped close to zero, following the preventative measures imposed by the government, urging citizens to stay indoors, to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
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As of March 21, Greek authorities tightened restrictions specifically for ferry travel, allowing movement only for permanent island residents and for those wishing to return to Athens.
Leading bankers, who are very familiar with those companies’ financial figures, estimate that if coastal shipping maintains 70 percent of its truck transport activity compared to the same time last year, then each ferry setting sale in the Aegean will lose 30,000 euros per day on average.
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Larger vessels, serving Crete, are seeing daily losses close to 40,000 euros per day.
Thanks to the significant decline in fuel prices in Greece, losses could potentially be even more catastrophic, yet ferry services are still suffering significantly from coronavirus panic across the globe.
