MedCruise has announced the re-establishment of cruise itineraries between Greece and Turkey.

According to a press release, the announcement is “a result of the decision of the Greek government to remove the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the case of itineraries reaching Greek ports following calls at the ports Galataport Istanbul and Kusadasi.”

“Following consistent communication of the state at Turkish ports, the Greek authorities appreciated that both Galataport Istanbul and Kusadasi have established and maintained a public health emergency contingency plan based on the European, high standards and have all capacities to provide appropriate public health emergency response,” MedCruise wrote.

MedCruise said that it worked intensively to make this development happen. As part of this work, MedCruise President Aris Batsoulis met and briefed the authorities and national administrations in Greece and Turkey in detail.

MedCruise also organized technical site visits of the EU Healthy Gateways joint action team in the ports of Istanbul and Kusadasi in order to clarify the applied process and protocols, and take all the steps to secure safe cruising. The site visit was led by MedCruise president and secretary general.

“In this process, we had the strong support of CLIA Europe, cruise lines, as well as the scientific support of the European Union’s Healthy Gateways joint action team, headed by Prof. Christos Hadjichristodoulou,” MedCruise wrote.

“In addition, instrumental has been the role of the Galataport Istanbul Chief Port Officer, Figen Ayan, the Regional Director Eastern Mediterranean of Global Ports Holding, Aziz Gungor, and the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency,” it added.

MedCruise said that it will continue to develop “all the essential activities and similar campaigns” to support its members, facilitating the safety and sustainable growth of cruise activities in the Med, its adjoining seas, and beyond.