Small ports benefit from Piraeus strike
The competitiveness of the port of Piraeus is continuing to sink due to continued industrial action, but regional harbors seem to be benefiting. In the first half of 2008, the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) showed losses of 4.3 million euros, with imports of containers dropping from 167,645 in January-June 2007 to just 65,238 during the same period this year. These losses translated into gains for small ports such as those at Astakos, Lavrion, Volos and Skaramangas. The private port of Astakos in western Greece saw traffic soar from the near-nothing figures of 2007 to 55,065 containers, as it was chosen by companies that wished to transfer their cargo to the mainland. The ports of Lavrion in Attica and Skaramangas and Volos in central Greece, which had handled a total of 1,300 containers between them in the first half of 2007, received 20,614 containers in H1 2008.
