COSMATOS GROUP: 50 years of meeting the challenges of Project Cargo management

Interview in The TOC, Greece - by Elisabeth Cosmatos, CEO

The TOC: What are your forthcoming goals in terms of business and investment?

Part of our company culture is to be proactive and respond speedily to changing industry demands however different they may be in nature.

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in cruise calls to Thessaloniki as well as a revival in defence logistics in the ports of Alexandroupolis and Thessaloniki.? Drawing on more than 50 years of experience in the market and a solid background in both cruise ship attendance and defence logistics support, we immediately adapted to these changing needs.?

For example, this year, the Port of Thessaloniki will accept 68 cruise ship arrivals (a 19% increase on 2022), and Cosmatos Shipping Services SA will serve 61 of them, equating to the vast majority of cruise vessels calling here.? With our project cargo division being? fully operational, we adopted a new organisational structure that would allow us to respond to the increased demands – in terms of personnel and skills – of the cruise and defence industries.

Proudly, Cosmatos Group invests heavily in manpower and training, and is committed to maintaining an exceptional working environment for our personnel.?

The TOC: Cosmatos Group is known for its expertise in challenging Project Cargo management, for example with cargo destined for Corinth.? Can you give an example here?

Cosmatos Group is widely known for its expertise in project-managing the movement of many types of cargoes, in industry sectors as diverse as industrial, oil & gas, and renewable energy – and it is true that our know-how with multimodal transportation to challenging, harder-to-reach areas is second to none.? Corinth is certainly a challenge; ?for huge cargoes, it is reachable only by sea, but with a draft of around 3m, transport must be by smaller, chartered ferry or barge. Moreover, it is not a designated port for foreign flag vessels which means that non-domestic ship arrivals require special permission.

One milestone achievement was our participation in the logistics of two huge cargoes to Corinth Refinery, which included transportation of a Naphtha Splitter and a Deisohexanizer Column. These originated from EKME’s premises in Thessaloniki, destined for onsite delivery at the Motor Oil HELLAS Naphtha complex.? The dimensions of these cargoes were 70.3m x 5.1m x 5.1m (weighing 255 mt) and 65.6m x 5.6m x 5.7m (LxBxH) and weighing 270 mt. ?They were loaded onto a ferry at Thessaloniki port, bound for Soussaki, and by road for the last mile to the refinery; a logistics operation which included vessel chartering, lashing/unlashing and road permits. ?By road, consideration must be given to narrow roads, lack of static studies for bridge analysis and poor infrastructure in the area.?

In a second project, we managed the transportation of refinery equipment between SalCon Thessaloniki, again to the site of Motor Oil HELLAS.? This consisted of 2 shipments with a total cargo of 3 silos of 16.00 x7.70 x 8.10m (LxBxH) and 36 tonnes each, and 1 silo of 19.95 x 4.22 x4.55 m and 52 tonnes.?

Although challenging, such projects are invaluable in gaining experience for future transports - whilst demonstrating our expertise in the local market

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The TOC: What challenges do you see in the transport, shipping services, and cruise sectors?

There are different challenges to address depending on the industry. As a general note, the current extremely low water levels in the Panama Canal raise concerns that are already evident in all shipping segments. Delays result in increased costs, supply/demand irregularities and general complications in the supply chain.?

As for the cruise industry, the desire to travel has grown significantly in the post-Covid era. Greece had always been an attractive tourist destination with much to offer, and in recent years, we have observed even greater interest for exploring new destinations in the country that could eventually offer new travel experiences. However, establishing a new cruise destination is a multi-dimensional project that requires multiple bodies to align and contribute to achieving a satisfactory result. The cruise line, the ship herself, port management, the city, the tourist board, the shipping agent and all subcontractors who provide services before and during a ship’s visit all have a role here.

Thessaloniki is the country’s largest industrial port, serving not only northern Greece but also the neighbouring Balkan hinterland. While we still need to improve multimodal infrastructure – specifically, railway connectivity and wagon diversity and availability – the port needs urgent investment in infrastructure, cranes and cargo-handling equipment, deeper drafts and additional stevedores so that ships can operate to full capacity. The continuous increases in specific port tariffs, such as project cargo tariffs and cruise ships tariffs, are also raising concerns as these could result in reduced competitiveness in the long run.

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