Hellenic Competition Commission: Four proposals for Greek coastal shipping

The Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) publishes the Final Report on the investigation it conducted in the coastal shipping sector.

This investigation began in April 2025 and constitutes the first comprehensive sector inquiry by the Hellenic Competition Commission in the strategically important sector of coastal shipping. Its aim is to understand how the market functions, highlight the challenges facing the sector, and formulate evidence-based policy proposals to strengthen competition, transparency, connectivity, and the sustainability of coastal shipping transport.

According to the relevant announcement, the investigation finds that:

1. Market concentration and barriers to entry: The market shows a significant degree of concentration in its key segments, while the high investment and operating costs, the limited availability of suitable vessels, and access to financing affect the ability of new or smaller providers to enter and expand.
2. Strong seasonality and differentiation of demand: Strong seasonality affects the structure of supply and the viability of routes. At the same time, the market is called upon to serve different categories of users, from permanent residents and freight flows to tourist demand, with varying degrees of sensitivity to price and service quality.
3. Aging fleet and green transition needs: The age of the coastal shipping fleet and the new environmental requirements create significant needs for renewal, technological upgrading, and financing. The green transition is at the same time a major challenge and a potential field for the development of new forms of competition and innovation.
4. Critical role of port infrastructure: The quality, adequacy, and administration of port infrastructure directly affect the ability of the coastal shipping network to operate effectively, the quality of services, and the conditions for entry and development of competition.
5. Need to modernize regulatory and supervisory governance: The fragmentation of responsibilities and the repeated changes to the supervisory framework create a need for greater institutional coherence, transparency, stability, and more effective strategic planning of the market.

Based on the findings of the investigation, the Final Report sets out a package of policy proposals, with particular emphasis on the following directions:

1. Modernization of the regulatory and supervisory framework: Strengthening institutional coherence and transparency, rationalizing responsibilities, and shaping a more dynamic, responsive, and adaptive framework for market regulation and supervision.
2. Upgrading port infrastructure and its administration: Accelerating the necessary investments in ports, improving services for passengers and businesses, and strengthening the administrative and operational capacity of port management bodies.
3. Renewal and green transformation of the coastal shipping fleet: Shaping appropriate financing and investment tools for fleet renewal, its energy upgrading, and its adaptation to environmental requirements, in a way that keeps open the possibilities for entry and development of competition.
4. Redesign of the network and review of public service contracts: Reconsideration of the design of the coastal shipping network and the framework of public service award contracts, with the aim of making more effective use of public resources, ensuring reliable connectivity, and serving the real needs of island regions. This direction is part of a broader approach to shaping a coherent and multimodal island transport system.

The sector inquiry in coastal shipping

This sector inquiry, which began in April 2025, aims to understand how the market functions, highlight the challenges facing the sector, and formulate evidence-based policy proposals to strengthen competition, transparency, connectivity, and the sustainability of coastal shipping transport.

Coastal shipping is an infrastructure of vital importance for the country. It ensures the connectivity of the islands, supports tourism and regional development, and contributes to social and territorial cohesion.

At the same time, the functioning of the market is affected by strong seasonality, the degree of concentration, the age of the fleet, barriers to entry, port infrastructure, and the growing investment needs associated with the green transition.

Interim Report

The HCC published the Interim Report on 16 October 2025, which presents the structure of the market, the determining factors of supply and demand, the parameters of competition, the institutional framework, and the rules that affect the business choices and behavior of market participants.

The Interim Report also highlighted indications of possible malfunctions in the functioning of the market, which became the subject of further investigation during the next stage of the sector inquiry. At the same time, through the recording of concerns and the formulation of preliminary positions and proposals, it sought to serve as the basis for a sincere and open public dialogue with the competent bodies and interested parties.

The central objective of the dialogue was the search for the necessary balance between strengthening competition, the economic viability of businesses in the sector, and serving the broader public interest.

Public consultation and Final Report

For this purpose, the Interim Report was put to public consultation, so that interested parties would be given the opportunity to submit views, observations, proposals, and additional evidence, either by submitting written memoranda by 1 December 2025 or through their participation in an open teleconsultation.

The public consultation constituted an essential stage of the sector inquiry, strengthening the transparency and participatory nature of the process. It allowed the substantive comparison of the Hellenic Competition Commission’s preliminary findings with the experiences and positions of market bodies, the State, local government, the scientific community, and users of coastal shipping services.

In this context, on 6 November 2025 an open teleconsultation was held with the participation of representatives of the State, businesses and business associations in the sector, institutional and scientific bodies, representatives of users of coastal shipping services, and members of the academic community.

The views, observations, proposals, and additional evidence submitted in the public consultation process were systematically evaluated by the HCC and taken into account in shaping the final findings and proposals. In this way, the public consultation contributed to enriching the analysis and to the fuller substantiation of the Final Report.

The completion of the sector inquiry is an important step toward shaping a modern, effective, competitive, and socially fair coastal shipping system. The Hellenic Competition Commission’s aim is to contribute to shaping a framework that will combine the economic viability of the sector with the strengthening of competition, the quality of services, the needs of island communities, and the service of the broader public interest, the announcement concludes.