# Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy (Greece)

The Ministry of Shipping and Insular Policy (Greek: Υπουργείο Ναυτιλίας και Νησιωτικής Πολιτικής) is a government department of Greece responsible for managing the nation's maritime and shipping sectors, as well as developing policies concerning the country's numerous islands. This ministry also oversees the enforcement of maritime laws and regulations, and the safety of Greek waters and coasts.

## History

It was founded as the Mercantile Marine Ministry (Υπουργείο Εμπορικής Ναυτιλίας) in 1936. On 19 September 2007, it was merged with the Ministry for the Aegean and Island Policy (Υπουργείο Αιγαίου και Νησιωτικής Πολιτικής) to form the Mercantile Marine, Aegean and Island Policy Ministry (Υπουργείο Εμπορικής Ναυτιλίας, Αιγαίου και Νησιωτικής Πολιτικής). The latter was abolished on 7 October 2009 and the shipping portfolio fell under the new Ministry of the Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping. It was re-established as the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries (Υπουργείο Θαλασσίων Υποθέσεων, Νήσων και Αλιείας) on 30 September 2010, but was again abolished on 27 June 2011 and merged with the Ministry of Regional Development and Competitiveness to form the Ministry of Development, Competitiveness and Shipping. It was re-established as the Ministry of Shipping and the Aegean Greek: Υπουργείο Ναυτιλίας και Αιγαίου) on 21 June 2012, but was again abolished on 26 January 2015 and merged into the Ministry of the Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism. On 23 September 2015, it was re-established as the Μinistry of Shipping and Island Policy in the Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras. The incumbent minister is Ioannis Plakiotakis in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

## Functions

The Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy is responsible for a range of issues related to Greece's maritime and shipping industries, and the development of policies for its islands. Some functions:
* Managing and promoting the Greek merchant navy and commercial shipping operations, including personnel training, ship safety, and industry regulation.
* Overseeing the development and implementation of policies concerning Greece's islands, addressing issues like transportation, infrastructure, and local economies.
* Coordinating maritime security efforts and responding to maritime emergencies.
* Managing Greece's ports and harbors, including infrastructure development and maintenance.

## List of ministers
### Mercantile marine

| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Notes |
| Georgios Katsifaras | 5 July 1982 | 5 June 1985 | PASOK | |
| Gerasimos Arsenis | 5 June 1985 | 26 July 1985 | PASOK | also National Economy Minister and Minister for Finance |
| Efstathios Alexandris | 26 July 1985 | 23 September 1987 | PASOK | |
| Evangelos Giannopoulos | 23 September 1987 | 18 November 1988 | PASOK | |
| Vasileios Sarantitis | 18 November 1988 | 17 March 1989 | PASOK | |
| Antonios Dedidakis | 17 March 1989 | 2 July 1989 | PASOK | |
| Aristotelis Pavlidis | 2 July 1989 | 12 October 1989 | New Democracy | Tzannetakis coalition government [el] |
| Nikolaos Pappas | 12 October 1989 | 11 April 1990 | | Grivas caretaker government and Zolotas national unity government |
| Konstantinos Mitsotakis | 11 April 1990 | 1 October 1990 | New Democracy | |
| Aristotelis Pavlidis | 1 October 1990 | 3 December 1992 | New Democracy | |
| Alexandros Papadongonas | 3 December 1992 | 13 October 1993 | New Democracy | |
| Georgios Katsifaras | 13 October 1993 | 22 January 1996 | PASOK | Third Papandreou cabinet |
| Kosmas Sfyrios | 22 January 1996 | 25 September 1996 | PASOK | First Simitis cabinet |
| Stavros Soumakis | 25 September 1996 | 13 April 2000 | PASOK | Second Simitis cabinet |
| Christos Papoutsis | 13 April 2000 | 24 October 2001 | PASOK | Third Cabinet of Costas Simitis |
| Georgios Anomeritis | 24 October 2001 | 7 July 2003 | PASOK | Third Cabinet of Costas Simitis |
| Georgios Paschalidis | 7 July 2003 | 10 March 2004 | PASOK | Third Cabinet of Costas Simitis |
| Manolis Kefalogiannis | 10 March 2004 | 19 September 2007 | New Democracy | First Cabinet of Kostas Karamanlis |

### Mercantile marine, the Aegean and island policy (2007–2009)

| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Notes |
| Georgios Voulgarakis | 19 September 2007 | 13 September 2008 | New Democracy | Second Cabinet of Kostas Karamanlis |
| Anastasios Papaligouras | 13 September 2008 | 7 October 2009 | New Democracy | Second Cabinet of Kostas Karamanlis |

### Maritime affairs, islands and fisheries (2010–2011)

| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Notes |
| Giannis Diamantidis | 30 September 2010 | 27 June 2011 | PASOK | Cabinet of George Papandreou |

### Shipping and the Aegean (2012–2015)

| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Notes |
| Konstantinos Mousouroulis [el] | 21 June 2012 | 25 June 2013 | New Democracy | Cabinet of Antonis Samaras |
| Miltiadis Varvitsiotis | 25 June 2013 | 27 January 2015 | New Democracy | Cabinet of Antonis Samaras |

### Shipping and the Aegean (alternates, January–September 2015)

| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Notes |
| Thodoris Dritsas | 27 January 2015 | 27 August 2015 | Syriza | First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras |
| Christos Zois | 28 August 2015 | 21 September 2015 | New Reformist Radical Reconstruction | Thanou caretaker cabinet |

### Shipping and insular policy (since September 2015)

| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Notes |
| Thodoris Dritsas | 23 September 2015 | 5 November 2016 | Syriza | Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras |
| Panagiotis Kouroumblis | 5 November 2016 | 29 August 2018 | Syriza | Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras |
| Fotis Kouvelis | 29 August 2018 | 9 July 2019 | Syriza | Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras |
| Ioannis Plakiotakis | 9 July 2019 | 26 May 2023 | New Democracy | Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis |
| Theodore Kliares | 26 May 2023 | 27 June 2023 | Independent | Caretaker Cabinet of Ioannis Sarmas |
| Miltiadis Varvitsiotis | 27 June 2023 | 12 September 2023 | New Democracy | Second Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, resigned due to the homicide in the port of Piraeus |
| Christos Stylianides | 12 September 2023 | | New Democracy | Second Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis |