A NEW RECORD attendance and a host of celebrities contributed to the success of the Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards for 2016, which were presented at a packed dinner event on Friday, December 2 at the Athenaeum InterContinental Hotel in Athens.

Nearly 1,200 of Greece’s leading shipping personalities, executives and their guests were present to see some of the Greek shipping industry’s best-known personalities and companies recognised.

The event, organised by Lloyd’s List, the international maritime newspaper established in 1734, included welcoming speeches by Greece’s minister of Shipping and Island Policy, Panagiotis Kouroumblis, and Junichiro Iida, executive vice president of ClassNK, the event’s overall lead sponsor.

Guests enjoyed a pre-dinner cocktail reception hosted by the Malta Ship Registry and the event was also supported by numerous Greek and international companies sponsoring individual awards.

Hellenic Chamber of Shipping President, George Pateras, presented a donation on behalf of the event organisers to ‘Argo’, the charity supporting children with special needs in the families of Greek seafarers.

The awards are held annually to recognise and reward achievement and meritorious activity in the Greek shipping industry as well as to promote Greece’s status as a maritime centre. Winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges representing a broad cross-section of the Greek shipping industry.