In his first greeting speech as the newly elected President of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, Mr George Sp. Alexandratos, General Manager of Apollonia Lines SA, highlighted the diverse and pressing challenges the maritime industry must address. He warmly welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between IEEE and IMarEST, emphasizing the invaluable collaboration that will stem from this partnership.

Mr. Alexandratos also took a moment to commend the previous President of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, Dr. Pateras, for his exceptional ethos and contributions to the industry. Reassuring the audience, he affirmed that the Chamber’s doors remain open to all and reiterated its commitment to supporting the competitiveness of Greek shipping—a critical sector that sustains more than 100 categories of jobs.

The spotlight shone on Industry Makers and their “Rapsody in Blue” in the form of an engaging dialogue between Mr Costas Delaportas, President & CEO, DRYDEL SHIPPING and Mr Angelos Roupas-Pantaleon, Founder, Second Wind and Partners. More specifically, Mr Delaportas said that they have already placed 15 new buildings in Japanese shipyards, which are the best shipyards in the world. They are using conventional fuel, as nobody knows what fuel will finally prevail, while their ships are very competitive. Also new buildings are always better looked at by insurance and P&I. He is optimistic about the dry market and he believes that after six months the price of scrapping will come down. The market has dropped a lot and everyone is worried about the new tariffs, as announced by the new US Administration. Finally, Mr Delaportas noted that he is optimistic about 2026 and that the industry has to stop running older ships, over 20 years old, with huge emissions.

Mr Laios introduced the panelists and started by asking Ms Veniamis-Mangos about cooking! She explained that her cooking course helped her get married into shipping, however her most aggressive competitors were fellow Cordon Bleu students, which prepared her for competition in shipping, become creative and overcome difficulties. As for art and real estate, the value of art is both subjective and sentimentally driven – art prices are volatile. The same applies to shipping: one has to trust one’s instinct and not blindly follow what the market is saying. In the real estate market, there are a lot of taxes, but still people opt for that because bricks and mortar are tangible. Shipping is a dynamic and fascinating industry that binds the whole world together.

Mr Terzis noted that they invest a lot in technology and they believe that technology will be the key in the future. We went on saying that a typical Greek traditional shipping company needs to have a competitive edge and for them this is technology, as it gives them the odds to compete with the big players. When working in a traditional shipping company where different generations mingle together, respect is of essence and try to make the best of the combination of the experience of the older generation and the appetite of the new. Basically no one is doing traditional “shipping”: it is a combination of different industries and shipping is the backbone of all that.

Mr Theodorakis presented SwissChemGas and explained that they are trading lpg and the balancing of the market is happening through ships (thereby the most important aspect of the market is shipping). One big challenge that they faced is the domination of big trading houses. It takes time to build a sound track record and it is very easy to make a mistake and ruin it. Another big challenge was building a sound trading team, which took time and required investment in people. Finally, trading is not static at all, and this requires a specific mindset.

Capt. Kokkinis explained how he took a deep dive down the rabbit hole of shipping and the professional orientation programme they run on Andros. Various projects have evolved, and they still try to implement innovative projects on the ships, be close to the crews, cut down the distance gap between ship and on shore operations. Shipping companies can balance business goals and a positive social impact as this is combined in the creation of wealth, in its holistic definition and approach. People, the S in ESG, are the infrastructure to continue and maintain the know-how. The value goes beyond making money and we have to start seeing the shipping industry in a different view. He stressed that we need to know where we came from and where we want to go. Every generation has to be a creator, and this is an element of success for the future, based on and respecting the past.

Mr Dimitriadis-Evgenidis intervened to note that “succession” is not a prerequisite for one to enter the shipping industry and thrive.

This landmark agreement was signed by Prof. Kathleen Kramer, 2025 IEEE President & CEO; Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of San Diego, and Mr Chris Goldsworthy, Chief Executive Officer of IMarEST, and showcases the shared commitment of both Institutes to advancing sustainability in the maritime industry, with a focus on collaborative initiatives in key areas such as:

• development of standards/rules on sustainable maritime sector, ship and port electrification, offshore plant installations
• development of training material, books, tutorials, seminars, webinars
• supporting and accrediting educational activities CPD, MSc courses
• organization of events, webinars, workshops, conferences
• Assisting international policy organizations in technical issues, IMO, European Commission

The first panel discussion was moderated by Mr Panagiotis Korakas, Head of Cultural Heritage and Blue Synergies, Naftika Chronika and Isalos.net, who, together with Prof. Ioannis Golias, Governor of Eugenides Foundation; Emeritus Professor, National Technical University of Athens; f. Caretaker Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of the Hellenic Republic, Mr Makram Daouk, Business Director, Crossworld Marine, Mrs Venetia Kallipolitou, Tsakos Group Maritime Training and Education Advisor, Tsakos Columbia Shipmanagement SA, Mr John Platsidakis, Costamare Shipping Company SA and Capt. Nikos Tsoulis, Director at Merchant Marine Academy of Macedonia had a lively discussion on “Who is transforming who: Technology, GenZ and Shipping”

Turning to the Human Side of Shipping, Mrs Elisabeth Calbari, Neuropsychologist, Executive Leadership Consultant, Founder, Self Balance, discussed with Mr Costas Th. Kontes,

The fourth panel discussion, “Adapting Ship Financing to Evolving Industry Demands – Symphony of Sustainability: Navigating Financial Currents” was moderated by Mr Angelos Roupas-Pantaleon, Conference Chair and Founder, Second Wind and Partners, who posed intriguing questions on lending, sustainable financing and profitability to Mr Alexandros Damianidis, Partner, Assets and Structured Finance Group, Watson Farley & Williams, Mrs Zefi Gritza, Claims and Insurance Manager at Allseas Marine SA, Mr Alexis Stephanou, Chief Financial Officer, Goldenport Group, Mrs Ann-Crtistine Stucke, Sustainability Expert Corporate Banking AMN AMRO Bank N.V., and Mr Yiannis G. Timagenis, Partner, Timagenis Law Firm.