TUI's liner Mein Schiff 6 was welcomed at Port Piraeus-Athens as sailings restarted in Greece after a half-year suspension due to the pandemic, Piraeus Port Authority announced on Wednesday, September 16.
TUI Schiff 6 ship was the first passenger liner to resume Eastern Mediterranean cruises, visiting Piraeus. This was announced in a press release from PPA (member of China's COSCO Shipping Group, the majority PPA shareholder since 2016).
According to the announcement, Mein Schiff 6 had departed from Piraeus Tuesday night. The disembarkation/embarkation of the travelers had been "successfully completed under strict safety measures, in compliance with all the relevant protocols."
The vessel was welcomed by representatives of the cruise port, who exchanged gifts and expressed their support for the restart of cruising in Greece.
The country gradually restarted its tourism industry after a full nationwide lockdown imposed in spring months to control the spread of the virus, but cruise ships were not visiting its ports like in past years.
Despite the crisis, in February PPA launched a project to expand the cruise ship terminal to increase Piraeus' capacity to receive large "new generation" ships and increase homeporting.