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Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry joins the Waterborne Technology Platform

The Waterborne Technology Platform (TP) warmly welcomes their newest member, the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, further strengthening the involvement of the significant maritime and industrial business ecosystems in the Eastern Mediterranean. Waterborne TP is an industry-oriented European Technology Platform established to ensure a continuous dialogue between the European waterborne sector, EU Institutions and Member States. It brings together all stakeholders from across the entire value chain, including shipowners, shipbuilders, equipment manufacturers, classification societies, energy, infrastructure and service providers, ports, universities, and research institutes, ensuring that research development and innovation priorities (RD&I) and the deployment of innovations reflect both industrial needs and policy objectives. The Waterborne TP coordinates the private side of the Zero-Emission Waterborne Transport Partnership and covers activities in vessel technologies and operations, port ecosystems as well as the blue economy. The Waterborne Technology Platform is currently developing nine technology roadmaps encompassing research, development, innovation (RD&I), upscaling and deployment including for six different ship types: inland waterway transport, ferries, short sea shipping, cruise ships, oceangoing ships and offshore vessels. These roadmaps reflect different solutions for liner and bulk/tramp shipping and their business models, as well as for retrofitting and newbuilds. They aim to facilitate a competitive, resilient and sustainable future. Vassilis Korkidis, President of the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "I am very pleased to hear that the Board of Directors of Waterborne has approved PCCI's application for full membership. After several years of fruitful cooperation, we are now able to join Waterborne's strong network and participate closely in the Partnership on Zero Emission Waterborne Transport (ZEWT), as well as a realistic improvement of the next EU Framework Programme. The maritime technology sector is extremely important for the Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as the large shipyards in the Gulf of Elefsina and the ship repair companies in the area of Perama - Salamina are members of our Chamber and of the Greek shipping cluster "Maritime Hellas". Greece's heavy industry is shipbuilding and the port ecosystem, included in both the EU's Industrial Maritime Strategy and the EU Ports Strategy. It is crucial for Europe to move beyond sustainability, towards a resilient, digital, safe and competitive maritime future. What is important for Greece in shipping is also important for all of Europe and we must all deliver a green, digital and integrated maritime system together. We are excited to follow Waterborne’s vision for the future and delighted to contribute to the commitments on sustainable development”. Jaap Gebraad, Secretary General of Waterborne TP, added: “The Piraeus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) is significantly strengthening the representation of the maritime and industrial business ecosystems in the Eastern Mediterranean. The membership of PCCI provides strong links to shipping, logistics, port services, maritime equipment and blue economy activities, specifically with a view to the many SMEs in the sector. Aligning our Technology Roadmaps with national and regional contexts, including insularity and the specific characteristics of SMEs, will further strengthen the validity of the roadmaps in terms of deployment. We are looking forward to jointly paving the way for a competitive, resilient and sustainable waterborne sector in the EU. ”