Master plan of the port of Patmos – Cruise ship mooring pier

History

Accurate representation of the port with a cruise ship moored at the planned pier.
See more here.

Following the consideration that over time the port’s uses and operations increase and as a result new projects and new investments are required, the master plan for the port of Patmos was created.
Those listed as necessary projects (decision of the Coordinator of the South Aegean Region, 16/10/2019) are:
1. Servicing of 220-meter cruise ships
2. Servicing of seaplanes
Thus, the current port of Patmos – according to the master plan – is planned to be exclusively oriented towards a purely touristic use.
The land zone of the port of Skala is therefore expanded and the following projects are approved:
1. Construction of a 650 sq.m., two-story building at the existing pier
2. Construction of a pier on piles to serve 220 meters long cruise ships, with earthworks covering a total area of 3,200+ sq.m. along the coast of the red lighthouse.
Of all the planned projects, the one that is being implemented, as a priority, is the construction of the pier.
As an Association, we disagree with the project and believe that cruise ships are served perfectly, in the way they have been mooring all the years of cruising up to now, on the island. That is, by mooring away from the inhabited areas of the port and transporting tourists with local boats.
According to our perspective the project of the new pier is unnecessary and redundant.
The implementation cost required is a challenge, at a time when serious infrastructure projects are pending (wastewater treatment, water supply, waste management, health coverage…)

Hippocampus’ views on the plan

thePatmos belongs to the small insular populations (area 34 sq.km. and population 3,500), it has largely preserved its special character and the state, recognizing the value of both its historical monuments and its natural landscape, has shielded it with special laws that have protected it until now.
The proposed construction project of a pier for mooring large cruise ships (220 m. long), located at the entrance to the port, is viewed by us as threatening Patmos with irreparable destruction.
As the Patmos Association for the Protection of the Environment “Hippocampus” we express the following objections on the plan:
1. There will be an irreparable alteration of the natural relief of the pier construction area, since embankments and expansion of the port’s usable surface area are foreseen by the planned projects. The whole project is in direct contradiction with the characterization of Patmos as a landscape of special natural beauty.
2. The marine environment of the port will suffer the consequences of the increase in pollution from the waste and fuel of cruise ships.
3. Not only the residential area adjacent to the pier, but also the entire settlement of Skala will be burdened with atmospheric pollution from the exhaust gases emitted by cruise ships, for as long as they remain at the pier with their engines running.
4. Air quality will also be affected by the increase in wheeled vehicle traffic (coaches, taxis). More generally, we believe that, in terms of traffic, the course should be reversed. We promote the reduction of vehicles, the use of environmentally friendly means of transport, the conduction of the study of bypassing the coastal road of Skala and the creation of a ring road.
5. The existence of a single central road axis, along the coastal front, with the increase in vehicle traffic, will deteriorate urban environmental conditions due to increased noise pollution, traffic congestion, risk of accidents, creating a general image of an urban port.
6. No economic study has been conducted to demonstrate the benefit of the increase in cruise visitors for the island’s economy. We believe that the benefits should concern, if not the entire population, at least a large portion of the population to justify interventions of such magnitude.
7. The island’s infrastructure is inadequate for the residents and certainly dysfunctional, when the population multiplies – during the overloaded summer season – and cannot meet the required needs (water supply, sewage, transport network, health coverage).
8. Apart from the municipal bodies and a very small group of businessmen who have a direct interest in the cruise activities (cruise ship agents, boat owners, etc.), there are very few citizens of Patmos who know what is being sought with this extreme intervention in the island’s environment.
It is being propagandized through rumors that “the pier will contribute to the economic development of the island and the cruise constitutes the engine of tourism for Patmos”. The truth is that, because the public consultation did not take place in Patmos (but in Rhodes), the residents were not informed at all and their opinion was never sought.
9. The size of the island, both in area and population, cannot withstand such a scale of intervention in its sensitive ecosystem. The project is disproportionate to the carrying capacity of Patmos. A technical study should have been carried out beforehand.
10. We declare as a collective that we are not generally against the cruise. We believe that it contributes to the economy of the island. However, we will not agree to sacrifice, on the altar of the cruise, what we consider to be the indisputable values ​​of Patmos. Its unpolluted natural environment and the quality of life of its residents.

Relevant publications

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