Europe Calls On Algeria To Open Its Maritime Borders
The Spanish authorities have contacted the national Maritime Transport Company for travelers, and asked them to revive the cruise program between Algeria and France, and confirmed that the Algerians who go to Spain for tourism will not be quarantined for 14 days, starting from July 1st.
In this regard, the Director General of the National Corporation for Maritime Transport of Travelers (ENTMV) Ahcene Grairia revealed on Monday to “Echorouk” that the Spanish authorities contacted them and asked them to specify the program of cruises programmed between Algeria and Spain, and this is starting from July 1 2020, and on this basis our interlocutor added that he’d called on the legal representative of the Maritime Transport Company for travelers in Spain, to take all necessary measures.
He further explained that the subsidiary agencies of the company are waiting for the green light from the Ministry of Transport to sell tickets, especially that the Spanish authorities have assured us that the Algerians who go to Spain for tourism will not be subject to quarantine measures specified in 14 days, starting from July 1st 2020.
As for sea trips to Marseille, the National Shipping Company awaits the decisions of the French and Algerian authorities in this regard, and in this context it was specified that they did not receive any request from the French authorities regarding the program of trips between Algeria and Marseille, unlike the Spanish authorities.
It is known that since all cruises were suspended on March 18 due to the expansion of the spread of the new Corona virus “Covid 19”, 104 cruises to France and Spain were canceled in the period from 18 March to 31 May, which impacted negatively on the company’s business revenues, as it incurred financial losses estimated at 2.5 billion dinars, equivalent to 250 billion centimes.
In a related context, “Echorouk” learned from sources at the General Directorate of Customs, that its services represented by the inspectors of customs departments in the port of Algiers and Oran, took all necessary measures for the resumption of sea cruises, after correspondence from the Spanish authorities to their Algeria counterparts, adding that customs services were ready to impose control and inspection procedures as from 1st of next July.