The payment of the 2025 Christmas bonus for seafarers has started. See if you are eligible and what documents are needed to receive it.
We inform you that the granting of extraordinary financial support to certain categories of unemployed seafarers for the CHRISTMAS 2025 holidays will be made according to the provisions of the relevant K.Y.A. /28-03-2025, Government Gazette 1559 issue B’/01-04-2025 and for its implementation, we provide you with the following clarifications – instructions:
1. GRANTED AMOUNTS
The extraordinary financial support granted to unemployed seafarers is determined as follows:
CHRISTMAS 2025
For all eligible unemployed seafarers the amount is: €400.00 (four hundred euros).
DOCUMENT SUBMISSION AND COMPETENT AUTHORITIES
The control period for the required documents of the interested seafarers for the extraordinary financial support due to the CHRISTMAS 2025 holidays is set within an overriding deadline from /2025 to /2025.
The crediting to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries will be done gradually.
The deadline for submitting documents for control is exclusively for the period from /2025 to /2025.
The submission for the control of documents will be carried out as follows:
a) At the Central Service of the Seamen’s House of Piraeus for those seafarers residing in Athens and Piraeus.
The submission of documents in a sealed A4-sized envelope will be done in person with the presentation of the Seaman’s BOOKLET and police ID and strictly on the specified dates and times as they appear in the table below based on the initial letter of the seafarer’s surname.
INITIAL OF SURNAME – DATE OF DOCUMENT SUBMISSION – HOURS OF ATTENDANCE
A TO Z /2025 AND /2025 09:00-13:00
H TO M /2025 AND /2025 09:00-13:00
N TO S /2025 AND /2025 09:00-13:00
T TO Ω /2025 TO /2025 09:00-13:00
FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT SUBMIT DOCUMENTS ON THE ABOVE DATES
A TO Ω /2025 & /2025 09:00-13:00
Documents will not be accepted in case the seafarer attends on a date and time different from the one specified for the initial letter of his surname.
b) At the local Port Authorities – Branches of the O.N. for seafarers residing in the Region, the submission of documents will be done according to the instructions announced by the competent local Port Authority and the Seamen’s House Branch, according to their capabilities.
Seamen’s House: Granting of extraordinary financial support to certain categories of seafarers due to Christmas
CATEGORIES AND CONDITIONS OF ELIGIBLE PERSONS
3A. BASIC CATEGORIES OF ELIGIBLE PERSONS
For an unemployed seafarer to be eligible for the extraordinary financial support, they must:
a) Have more than five (5) years of total sea service, of which at least ten (10) months during the last three-year period (i.e., from /2022 to /2025).
or to have at least twenty (20) months of total sea service during the last five-year period (i.e., from /2020 to /2025) and
b) That a period of no more than twenty-four (24) months and no less than thirty (30) days has elapsed from his last discharge until /2025, i.e., unemployment within the period /2023 to /2025 (excluding time covered by leave and any compensation for illness, loss of the ship, sale by Public Auction, or loss of Greek ship registry).
A new ship’s articles up to thirty (30) days AFTER /2025 does not interrupt unemployment.
Conditions (a), (b) must be met cumulatively.
The ship’s articles in the N. Register must be certified by the competent Port Authorities.
3B. SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF BENEFICIARIES
The following special categories of unemployed seafarers are also entitled to receive the extraordinary financial support:
A. Seafarers who cannot work because they suffer from a chronic illness, provided they have at least five (05) years of total sea service.
For the characterization of a seafarer’s illness as chronic, as well as his inability to be shipped, the competent authorities are:
i) The Disability Certification Center (K.E.P.A). The Notifications of Disability Percentage Certification Results issued by the K.E.P.A Medical Committees are mandatorily accepted and are binding.
ii) For beneficiaries who are not residents of the Attica region, except for the N. Kythira and the regional unit of Thessaloniki, the competent authorities are the Public Hospitals and the Public Primary Health Care Service Provision Units (P.F.Y) such as Local Health Units (To.M.Y), Health Centers, etc.) closest to their residence.
REQUIRED: i) AMKA Number ii) The latest Tax Clearance Certificate from the Tax Office and iii) Notification of Disability Certification Result from KEPA
B. Unemployed seafarers registered with the G.E.N.E who were discharged from the ranks of the Armed Forces after /2025 and have at least two (2) years of total sea service.
C. Unemployed seafarers registered with GENE who were subsidized under the provisions of P.D /1998(A΄176), as amended by P.D /2000(A΄104) and /2001 (A΄196), for a two-month period at least after 25 /2024 and have not been shipped since then for more than one (1) month.
3C. GENERAL CONDITIONS
All the above categories concern registered SEAFARERS with a Greek seaman’s book or passport, and the service that is counted must have been served ONLY on ships under the Greek flag or on ships under a foreign flag contracted with NAT or on non-contracted ships, but with service regularly purchased from NAT (must have been registered in the N.F. or NAT collection bills must have been issued).
The aforementioned unemployed seafarers:
1) Must not have engaged in other gainful employment after the last discharge recorded in their seaman’s book.
2) Do not receive a pension or gratuity from the shipowning company or any other form of aid during the payment period and are not covered by another Public Insurance Organization.
3) Unemployment benefits (P.D /1998), maternity benefits (P.D /1981 & /1985) are not considered aid of another form.
4) The period of study for students at the KESEN schools is counted as service time provided it was carried out and completed within the time intervals defined in paragraph 3A of the present.
For cases where seafarers are attending a course of study or are enrolled in a subsidized Merchant Navy training and retraining school to obtain a suitable certificate during the deadline for submitting documents for the extraordinary financial support for the 2025 CHRISTMAS holidays or are scheduled to begin a new course of study within the aforementioned deadline, the payment of the extraordinary financial support is NOT provided, because as defined in article 2 par.1 sub.γ of P.D. /1998 Government Gazette /28-7-1998, “a person who is about to take examinations for the acquisition of a merchant navy diploma (certificate) until the results are announced is not considered to be available for work, as well as a person who is attending a Merchant Navy training and retraining school. The fulfillment of all conditions is checked from the file with the photocopies of the seafarer’s discharge book of the beneficiary that will be submitted along with the other supporting documents and in exceptional cases from the data of the Naval Service Register kept at the Naval Pension Fund (N.A.T.) under the exclusive responsibility of the Central Service.
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