The Corinth Canal in southern Greece, which had been closed to traffic since February 2021, after a series of landslides made it unnavigable, will reopen for ships in July, the country’s sovereign wealth fund HCAP said on Wednesday, ANA reports.
In a statement on work progress on the Canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth in the Ionian Sea with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea, the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations said that improvements instituted by managers of Corinth Canal SA in July will include a “new dynamic portal and e-commerce services, high-quality personalized services, online notification (arrival/transit), and online ticketing.”
A new tugboat (“Vergina”) will be able to expand the existing fleet’s services (of towing during transit through the canal) to towing and assistance with safe handling during docking of merchant’s vessels at the ports of Corinth, Kiato, Thisvi, Kalamaki and Sousaki, all in the greater Corinth Canal region. Fencing along the canal and construction of a 3.5km paved footpath will be initiated within 2022, with the support of the Peloponnese Region.
The channel is used by all kinds of vessels, from small tourist craft to large merchant vessels, cruise ships, and tankers. For cruise ships in particular, sailing through the Canal is one of the great travel experiences. In addition, the passage serves as the shortest and safest sea route for vessels coming from Ionian, Adriatic and Southern Italian ports, as well as for ships passing through the Strait of Messina and heading to ports in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea (and vice versa).
Traveling from Patras to Piraeus via the Canal takes a vessel 100 nautical miles, but with the Canal shut, a vessel is obliged to sail around the Peloponnese and cover 295 nautical miles.
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