Attica Group publishes its 11th Corporate Responsibility Report

Attica Group published its 11th consecutive Corporate Responsibility Report, demonstrating its commitment to conduct its business with transparency and accountability. 

The 2019 Report is published amid the extremely unfavorable conditions caused by the outbreak and global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The 11th Corporate Responsibility Report refers to all Group activities in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the period 01/01/2019-31/12/2019 and continues to follow the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) internationally recognized guidelines ‘Sustainability Reporting Standards’ (version 2016) at “Core” option, which Attica Group was the first to apply within the passenger shipping industry worldwide. 

The Report focuses on the Stakeholders’ main issues of interest as part of the Group's long-term commitment to operate responsibly, with reference to 85 GRI disclosures, 235 quantitative indicators, as well as to 38 future objectives. 

Among others, Attica Group in 2019:

- Reduced its total energy consumption by 5.7% (equal to over 786,000 GJ) and total carbon dioxide emissions by 5.6% (equal to over 59,000 tonnes of CO2).
- Distributed over €470 million in economic value:

• €94.2 million to employees (for salaries, benefits and insurance payments),
• €81.9 million for taxes (including VAT and port taxes),
• €29.9 million to providers of capital (for interest and return payments),
• €21.9 million to agents (for commissions),
• €205.6 million to suppliers (for purchases of goods and services),
• €2.8 million to society (for discount tickets, implemented programs, sponsorships and donations) and
• €34.5 million for investments.
   

- Conducted internal drills on Health and Safety issues (such as response to emergency situations) and passenger safety procedures to 100% of marine employees.
- Informed potentially over 2 million customers on Corporate Responsibility issues, such as environmental protection.
- Used refrigerants that do not affect the ozone layer (such as R134a, R404a, R407a) in 100% of refrigerators and freezers onboard its vessels.
- Transported from Islands free-of-charge over 82 tonnes of materials for recycling.
- Has communicated Regulation of Professional Behavior to 100% of its employees.
- Implemented or supported societal support activities in 100% of the islands it serves.
- Increased the total value of societal support activities by 24.8%.
- Spent 77.2% of total procurement expenditure to local suppliers and 15.4% to small and medium-sized enterprises (up to 50 employees).
- Was subjected to 45 inspections from local Authorities for food hygiene and safety, with no recorded non-compliance incidents.
- Had no violation cases concerning main principles and rules of professional behavior, corruption incidents or bribery incidents related to its employees.
- Increased by 4.4% the number of quantitative indicators it makes reference to within the Report. 

Commenting on Attica Group’s Corporate Responsibility Report, the Group’s Chief Executive Officer Mr. Spyridon Paschalis underlined: 

“Under the new circumstances in the business environment due to the global pandemic, Corporate Responsibility will continue to be the guiding compass for our activities, as we will continue to incorporate responsibility into our daily management practices, support prosperity of society, establish positive employment conditions, ensure our passenger safety and reduce our environmental impact. 

The 2019 Report reflects our efforts to maintain a bilateral communication and respond to our Stakeholders’ expectations, by presenting our progress, our initiatives and our actions in key areas of our operations, which ensure our responsible operation.” 

Attica Group is active in passenger shipping through SUPERFAST FERRIES, BLUE STAR FERRIES, HELLENIC SEAWAYS and AFRICA MOROCCO LINK, operating 32 vessels in total, which provide modern and high quality transportation services in Greece and abroad. The Group’s vessels travel in 4 countries and 60 unique destinations, connect 71 ports and transport over 7 million passengers, 1 million private vehicles and 400,000 freight units annually. 

The 2019 Corporate Responsibility Report is available on the Group’s website, www.attica-group.com.
 

Kallithea, July 20, 2020