AMBASSADORS FEBRUARY 23RD MEETING WITH MINISTER OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000593

SIPDIS

DHS FOR COAST GUARD
COAST GUARD ROTTERDAM FOR LCDR BEE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/24/2015
TAGS: ECON EWWT GR AMB
SUBJECT: AMBASSADORS FEBRUARY 23RD MEETING WITH MINISTER OF
MERCHANT MARINE KEFALOYIANNIS

Classified By: Ambassador Charles Ries, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (U) Summary. Ambassador Ries met with Minister of
Merchant Marine Kefaloyiannis on February 23rd, to discuss
the International Port Safety Program, legal incidents
involving Greek owned merchant vessels in U.S. waters, and
the Greek privatization of port services. Kefaloyiannis also
endorsed a training request by the Hellenic Coast Guard and
asked for help in arranging the donation of an EC2 type
Liberty ship to become a floating museum in Greece, reported
septels. End Summary.


2. (U) Ambassador Ries met with Minister of Merchant Marine
Kefaloyiannis on February 23rd. Ambassador raised the topic
of the U.S. Coast Guard,s (USCG) new International Port
Safety Program (IPSP) by noting that ports have been
identified as a &weak link8 in the war on terrorism, and
that programs such as the IPSP are designed to secure those
loopholes. Ambassador explained the USCG has opened a new
nine-man office in Rotterdam that can provide assistance and
information to further the goal of increasing the maritime
security posture of countries in Europe. The Minister
responded that port security had been an issue for Greece
during the Olympics, and that Greece,s five major ports were
probably now overprotected from an IPSP perspective. He
acknowledged, however, that Greece had an additional 59
ports, and that bringing them all up to International Ship
and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code would take some time.


3. (C) Ambassador also raised two incidents in which
vessels belonging to Greek shipping companies, but flagged
outside of Greece, had been indicted for illegally
discharging oil into the Pacific Ocean, falsifying ships,
records, and concealing the activities (including suborning
perjury). (Note: In one incident the Greek shipping company
has agreed to plead guilty to having ordered its vessel to
commit the acts and conceal the violations, leading the USCG
to believe there may be a pattern developing. End note.)
Ambassador observed that the USCG might have to increase its
examination of Greek-owned vessels if a few bad apples
spoiled the reputation of Greek shipping. Kefaloyiannis,
clearly not aware of these cases, argued that it is the
responsibility of the flag state to enforce best practices,
but agreed that it would reflect poorly on Greece if it
appeared that Greek ship owners were instructing their
vessels to flagrantly disregard U.S. maritime environmental
laws.


4. (U) For his part, Kefaloyiannis touted new plans to
privatize port services in Greece, especially in southern
Crete, as well as to fully privatize other ports in the
country. Although he did not have specific details at the
time of the meeting, he noted that these plans would be
published soon, and that the GoG would welcome U.S.
investment in this sector. Ambassador observed that when
these privatization policy changes were in place, the Greeks
should seek to publicize them in the U.S. Ambassador also
noted that policy changes such as port service privatizations
could go a long way towards positioning Greece to make the
most of its geographic position between Europe and the Middle
East.


5. (C) Comment: The GoG is aware of its next steps
regarding ISPS compliance, and has begun to look for private
contractors to create security plans for those ports that
were not involved in the Olympic security program. The HCG
has been ready and willing to work with the USCG
representative in Rotterdam, and we will encourage the GoG to
comply fully with all ISPS code requirements within a
reasonable time frame.


6. (C) On the topic of Greek-owned vessels violating U.S.
maritime laws, after the official meeting, members of
Kefaloyiannis, staff commented that they support a USCG
crack-down on Greek-owned ships flying flags of convenience,
in order to help the Ministry in its efforts to bring
shipping back to the Greek flag. The Ministry has been under
pressure for several years to reverse the outflow of
Greek-owned or operated vessels to other flags. Thus far
these efforts have been fruitless. In 2004, 140 ships were
flagged in Greece, but 143 Greek flag ships were reflagged.
End Comment.

RIES