Inter-island service:
Subsidised route
is re-tendered

As initially reported by SymiGreece last month, The Ministry for the Aegean and Island Policy is repeating the tender for the subsidised Dodekanese routes. Specifically, the Ministry has today issued an invitation to tender for 13 routes across the Aegean including the Rhodes-Symi-Tilos-Nisiros-Kos route which is now being re-tendered. The route is currently being served by ANES with the boat "Proteus". During the first tendering process in November 2006, SAOS Ferries bid for the route with the boat "SAOS II". SymiGreece.com has followed the developments with regular updates over the past couple of months. In summary, the original tender by SAOS Ferries was declared invalid because it wasn't submitted on time with a certificate from the shipyard confirming the boat's speed. The company filed an appeal to the Rhodes Port Authority which was rejected by the Appeals Committee in January and was then determined to take the dispute to the State Council, the highest Court in Greece.

SymiGreece has seen the official Invitation To Tender (ITT) and we are pleased to be the first site to publish it in full (in Greek).

The tender will take place on Friday 16th of March 2007, at 10:00am. According to the ITT the subsidised routes will commence on the 1st of May 2007. This indirectly implies that until then, the currect contracts will be extended until then, so it is likely that "Proteus" will continue to serve the route during March and April 2007.

As mentioned in the published ITT, the tender requirement is for 2 return trips a week for the Kos-Nisiros-Tilos-Symi-Rhodes route (the subsidy does not include the Symi-Rhodes section) with a connection to a Pireaus-bound car ferry from Kos (as is currently the case with "Proteus" which connects with either Blue Star ferry "Diagoras" or "Blue Star 2"). The tendered boat should be at least 75 metres long, able to carry at least 200 passengers in the winter and 400 in the summer and have 500 square metres for carrying any type of vehicles of which 300 square metres should be reserved for large vehicles, lorries, etc.

There are 5 boat categories and the submitted tenders will be considered in order of the category a boat is in, boats in category 1 being considered first. The five categories are shown below together with the maximum subsidy for each return trip:

Age: up to 10 years (launched after 1/1/1997)
Maximum speed: 25 knots
Duration of contract: up to 8 years
Highest subsidy per trip for 1st year: 20,250 Euro

Age: up to 20 years (launched after 1/1/1987)
Maximum speed: 20 knots
Duration of contract: up to 6 years
Highest subsidy per trip for 1st year: 18,750 Euro

The contract will be extended to up to 8 years if the shipping company replaces the boat with a category 1 boat before the end of the existing contract.

Age: up to 20 years (launched after 1/1/1987)
Maximum speed: not specified
Duration of contract:3 years
Highest subsidy per trip for 1st year: 17,250 Euro

The contract will be extended to up to 5 or 3 years if the shipping company replaces the boat with a category 1 or 2 boat respectively before the end of the existing contract.

Age: Boats launched between 1/1/1973 and 31/12/1986
Maximum speed: not specified
Duration of contract: up to 6 years
Highest subsidy per trip for 1st year: 16,500 Euro

The contract will be extended to up to 6 or 4 years if the shipping company replaces the boat with a category 1 or 2 boat respectively before the end of the existing contract.

Age: Any boat not in Categories 1-4
Maximum speed: not specified
Duration of contract: 6 months subject to a declaration that the boat will be replaced before the end of the contract with a Category 1, 2, or 3 boat so the contract will be extended to up to 8, 6, or 3 years respectively.
Highest subsidy per trip for 1st year: 15,750 Euro

(The subsidy for subsequent years is adjusted to take into account price inflation, fuel costs, etc.)

"SAOS II" claims to be a Category 2 boat (it's 6 years old), while "Proteus" is a category 4 one (33 years old). The total subsidy for SAOS II would be about 11,700,000 for 6 years (today's prices), while the subsidy for "Proteus" would be about 3,400,000 for 2 years (today's prices).