Shipowner Evangelos M. Marinakis was named Greek Shipping Personality of the Year for 2017 and veteran Onassis Group personality Pavlos J. Ioannidis was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Athens on Friday, November 24 at the 14th annual Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards.
A record attendance of fully 1,200 Greek and international shipping personalities gathered at the Athenaeum InterContinental Hotel for the 2017 event, organised by Lloyd’s List, the international maritime newspaper established in 1734.
They hailed the brightest performers for 2017, including some of the industry’s best-known personalities and companies, and enjoyed an exciting event programme that reflected increasing interest in digitalisation and its impact on the industry’s future.
ClassNK, a longtime supporter of the event, was once again overall lead sponsor of the Greek Shipping Awards.
Greece’s minister of Shipping and Island Policy, Panagiotis Kouroumblis, opened the ceremonies and presented a donation on behalf of the event organisers to ‘Argo’, the charity supporting children with special needs in the families of Greek seafarers.
Guests enjoyed a pre-dinner cocktail reception hosted by the Malta Ship Registry while China Classification Society offered the traditional champagne toast to the health of Greek shipping.
The annual awards recognise achievement and meritorious activity in the Greek shipping industry as well as promote Greece as a maritime centre. Winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges representing a broad cross-section of the Greek shipping industry.
The 2017 Greek Shipping Awards Winners
Greek Shipping Personality of the Year
Evangelos M. Marinakis was voted 2017 Greek Shipping Personality of the Year for a year of big deals in shipping that saw investments of about $1 billion across tankers, container shipping and dry bulk.
Judges also highlighted the shipowner’s philanthropic activities.
Greek Shipping Newsmaker of the Year
Lloyd’s List’s Greek Shipping Newsmaker of the Year Award went to John Michael Radziwill, chief executive of new dry bulk company GoodBulk.
GoodBulk was launched last December on the Norwegian over-the-counter market and has already built up a fleet of 19 vessels including 17 capes, with options to buy another six.
The Award is decided by the editorial staff of Lloyd’s List.
Lloyd’s List/Propeller Club Lifetime Achievement Award
Pavlos J. Ioannidis was awarded the Lloyd’s List / Propeller Club Lifetime Achievement Award for an outstanding career notable for wartime heroism and aviation as well as shipping.
A close colleague of Aristotelis Onassis, Mr Ioannidis became CEO of the Onassis Foundation shipping business after Onassis’ death and applied aviation training methods and culture to shipping for the first time – not only for the Olympic fleet but, through his positions on the boards of the Union of Greek Shipowners and Helempa, for the wider benefit of Greek shipping.
Greek Shipping Next Generation Award
Ioannis Martinos won the New Generation Shipping Award, open to personalities of no more than 40 years of age.
A mechanical and aerospace engineering graduate from Tufts and MIT, Mr Martinos established his own company, Signal Maritime, in 2014 and has not shied away from testing new ideas.
Signal has become an innovative leader in using and developing new data tools for the industry, including a revolutionary new app for navigating the tanker spot market.
International Personality of the Year
Capt. Fu Chengqiu was elected International Personality of the Year, the only award open exclusively to non-Greeks.
Capt. Fu, who started his career with COSCO 40 years ago as a 3rd officer on a vessel, has been managing director of the Piraeus Port Authority since 2016 when COSCO acquired majority ownership of the port.
Prior to that he was in charge of Piraeus Container Terminal.
Dry Cargo Company of the Year
The recipient of the Dry Cargo Company of the Year Award for 2017 was Carras (Hellas), one of Greece’s oldest-established shipping companies.
Long associated with shipping legend John M. Carras who led the company from the 1930s until he passed away, Carras (Hellas) has renewed its fleet with seven high-quality eco-newbuilding bulkers since 2016.
The judges cited the company as embodying Greek shipping’s finest traditions.
Tanker Company of the Year
As Tanker Company of the Year the panel chose one of the industry’s largest names – Maran Tankers Management, the tanker arm of the Angelicoussis Shipping Group.
During 2017, Maran ordered seven VLCCs bringing the number on order to 11 on top of 39 tankers on the water.
It also sealed a number of important charters with oil companies, including seven to be employed long-term by Chevron.
Passenger Line of the Year
The judges chose Golden Star Ferries as Passenger Line of the Year for its commitment to its service between Rafina and the Cyclades islands at a difficult time for coastal services, and its expansion with the purchase of two more vessels, including the luxurious conversion of ‘Superferry’ in 2016 and its first high-speed ferry ‘Superrunner’ earlier this year.
Shipbroker of the Year
Masters Shipping won the Shipbroker of the Year Award.
Masters recently celebrated its 50th year. It was the first company worldwide to declare itself a specialist passenger ship broker.
Over its history it has been instrumental in more than 1,000 deals and has provided crucial support to the nation’s cruise and ferry lines.
The company is still going strong with an impressive roster of new transactions in the last two years.
Shipping Financier of the Year
The Shipping Financier of the Year Award went to Christina Margelou.
As head of shipping for Eurobank, Ms Margelou has led the bank to become an active lender with a current portfolio of about $1.4 billion.
But she and her team are taking a traditional relationship approach and Ms Margelou emphasises that the bank likes to be selective and keep things simple.
Greek Shipping Technical Achievement Award
Leading marine coatings developer NanoPhos Marine was awarded the Technical Achievement Award.
Exploiting the advantages of nanotechnology, the Lavrion-based company has introduced a pioneering range of efficient, environmentally-friendly and cost-effective coatings for ships.
Piraeus International Centre Award
Naftika Chronika was recipient of this year’s prestigious Piraeus International Centre Award.
The leading Greek shipping publication, established in 1931, has been a constant, trusted reference point for the industry and generously circulates copies free to universities and marine academies each month.
Judges also praised the publishers’ new initiative, isalos.net, a platform launched to promote wider knowledge and understanding of the shipping sector.
Award for Safety or Environmental Protection
Panos Zachariadis, technical director of Atlantic Bulk Carriers, won the Award for Safety or Environmental Protection.
He has been part of the Greek delegation to IMO since 2004 and has left a wide imprint on the industry, providing influential input in many of the major global ship safety and efficiency debates ever since.
Seafarer of the Year
The Seafarer of the Year Award was won by Captain Iakovos Papageorgiou Daniil.
Capt. Daniil, a Master of 15 years’ experience, rescued a shipwrecked crew of eight in the Indian Ocean in June 2016 when in command of the Diana Containerships-owned vessel ‘Hamburg’ en route to Singapore.
Capt Daniil diverted his vessel and successfully found the men’s life-raft 300 miles off the coast of Oman in a region where merchant ships are at risk from pirates.
Award for Achievement in Education or Training
The Maria Tsakos TCM Training Centre was winner of the 2017 Education or Training Award.
It has offered more than 800 courses with more than 4,000 attendees since being established four years ago.
The centre was singled out by judges for an innovative curriculum and high-quality instructors and equipment.
Ship of the Year
The Ship of the Year Award went to the ‘Georgios Averof’, the Hellenic Navy’s most historic ship and the oldest operational steel warship in the world.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence Big Data Award
The Lloyd’s List Intelligence Big Data Award was presented to Aspida which impressed the Lloyd’s List Intelligence assessment panel with its Vessel Security Information and Event Management (VSIEM) platform.
VSIEM has been developed to provide a variety of benefits to enhance maritime cyber security.
The Awards are supported by prominent bodies in Greek shipping, including:
- the Union of Greek Shipowners
- the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee
- the Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners Association
- the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (Helmepa)
- the Hellenic Shipbrokers’ Association
- the Association of Greek Passenger Shipping Companies
- the Propeller Club, International Port of Piraeus
- WISTA Hellas
- the Association of Banking & Financial Executives of Hellenic Shipping,
- the Piraeus Association for Maritime Arbitration.
