Evangelos Adam, Sustainability, Environment, Energy Performance Manager, Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd

Evangelos Adam is a graduate of Hellenic Naval Academy as Marine Engineer (BSc) and holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from Naval Post Graduate School, USA.

Since 1993 he has worked as Marine Engineer/Electronics Engineer/Chief Engineer for more than 10 years onboard Navy vessels. Since 2007 he held various high level administrative positions in regards to training, technical management, operational evaluation and performance analysis.

He joined Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd as Performance Analyst and Technical Superintendent and in 2019 he was assigned as Sustainability, Environment, Energy, Performance (SEEP) Manager of the newly established department.

Simone Bernasconi, Head of Global Product Line Upgrades, ABB Turbocharging

Simone heads Global Product Line Upgrades, with a focus to supporting owners and operators to maximize the potential of their power installations, achieving higher operational efficiency with lower fuel consumption while meeting environmental regulations.

Simone began his career at ABB Turbocharging in 2008 as an application Engineer. He later led Engine & Turbocharging Systems in Technology. Simone later joined the Service organization and held several positions before heading the Upgrades team since 2020.

Simone holds a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the ETH Zurich and a CAS in corporate Finance from the University of Zürich.

Stamatis Bourboulis, General Manager, Euronav Ship Management (Hellas) Ltd

Stamatis Bourboulis is the General Manager of Euronav Ship Management (Hellas) Ltd since 2005. He is a member of Euronav Management Board and ESG & Climate Change Committee.

He has graduated from the National Technical University of Athens as a Naval Architect and Marine Engineer and has worked in shipping companies and in chemical, ship building and ship repair industry in Greece.

He is a member of Intertanko Safety and Technical Committee (ISTEC), LR and DNVGL Greek National Committees and RINA Hellenic Technical Committee.

Theodosia Digalaki, Senior Electrical Design Engineer, ERMA FIRST

Theodosia Digalaki is an Electrical Engineer and Project Manager Professional with a background in Engineering and Technical consulting.

Work Experience

09/20219 – Present: Senior Electrical Desigm Engineer, ERMA FIRST
Providing technical solutions to important technical matters; Leading the electrical technical team to perform best practices; Product development and upgrade of electrical systems

06/20217 – 07/2018: Software Consutant and Project Manager, Fortune Technologies
Led the technical team to convert the business requirements to Design Specifications; Provided solutions to important technical matters; Developed Financial and Technical Reports by using Microsoft BI reporting tool

01/2013 – 06/2017: Project Manager, Alcon Consultant Engineers Ltd
Project Management of Energy Efficiency Projects; Project Management of Technical Consulting Projects; Responsible for cost management, time planning, organising resources

03/2008 – 12/2012: Senior Electrical Design Engineer, Alcon Consultant Engineers
Design of electrical installations of high scaled projects; Supervision of electrical installations of high scaled projects; Provided solution of important technical matters for various projects

Education

– University of Patras: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
– Athens University of Economics and Business: International Shipping Finance and Management
– University of Athens: Data Science

Dimitrios Fafalios, President / Director, Fafalios Shipping S.A.

Dimitrios Fafalios serves as President/Director of Fafalios Shipping S.A. since 2008.

From 1984 to 2008, Mr Fafalios has held various positions in Fafalios Ltd London, including Technical manager, Technical Director with responsibilities for vessel Maintenance, Newbuildings, S&P, and Technical support for Chartering, Insurance, Post-Fixture and other departments. He has worked closely with many of the major classification societies and international shipping organisations for rule development and implementation.

Mr Fafalios has been elected Chairman of Intercargo since January 2019 having been Chairman of its Technical Committee since 2009 and one of the first members of the Technical Committee since 1999.

Mr Fafalios holds senior positions on ABS, DNV-GL, HCS, ICS, INTERCARGO, LR, NK and UGS committees. Mr Fafalios has attended IMO on behalf of the Hellenic Republic.

Mr Fafalios received his B.S.c in Naval Architecture and Ship Building Newcastle upon Tyne University in 1980 and M.S.c in Ocean Systems Management from MIT in 1982.

Chara Georgopoulou, Senior Engineer, Maritime R&D and Advisory, DNV

Chara Georgopoulou is Senior Engineer at DNV Maritime R&D and Advisory, Greece. She has experience in modelling and simulation of ship machinery systems with focus on decarbonization technologies, fuel cells and hybrid systems.

From 2009 to 2012, Chara was project manager of the DNV Maritime CCS project, co-funded by the Research Council of Norway. Maritime CCS was one of the first studies to assess carbon capture technologies for ships using modelling and simulation of the integrated ship and CCS systems.

She holds a Bachelor and a PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens.

Haris Giantzikis, Technical Manager, Arcadia Shipmanagement Co Ltd

Charalampos (Haris) Giantzikis holds a High National Diploma (HND) in naval architecture, a Bachelor’s and a Master’s Degree in mechanical engineering from City University of New York.

He launched his career in 1979 as assistant superintendent engineer at A. Halcoussis.He worked as superintendent engineer at Tsakos Shipping, Piraeus (1987-1991) and as senior superintendent engineer at Seven Seas Maritime in London (1991-2001). He was fleet manager at Marmaras Navigation (2001-2002) and technical manager at Tsakos Shipping (2002-2005).From 2005 to date he holds the position of technical manager at Arcadia Shipmanagement.

He is member of ABS European Technical Committee, Bureau Veritas Hellenic Marine Technical Committee, DNV GL Greek Technical Committee, Lloyd’s Register Hellenic Technical Committee, Class NK Greek Technical Committee and is a member of the MARTECMA council.

Christos C. Hadjigeorgiou, Managing Director, Almi Marine Management SA

Christos Hadjigeorgiou is the Managing Director of Almi Marine Management SA, since 2014.

He holds an M.Sc and B.Sc in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from The University of Glasgow.

He worked in Ship Building and Repair Shipyards and Ship management Companies before joining Almi Marine in 1998 as the Technical Manager

He is a member of ClassNK and Lloyd’s Register Greek Technical Committees.

Stavros Hatzigrigoris, Director Technical, Zodiac Maritime; Chairman, MARTECMA

Stavros is the Director Technical of Zodiac Maritime. He held the position of Managing Director of Maran Tankers Management between 1992 and 2014 and in addition he was the Managing Director of Maran Gas Maritime between 2003 and 2020. During his years with the Maran Group Stavros has been responsible for the contracting , construction and delivery of more than 160 new ships in Korea and China including 45 LNGCs in Hyundai Samho and mainly DSME.

He holds a B.Sc.degree in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from University College London as well as an M.Sc. in Marine Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. He has studied Management of Ship Operations in the University of Strathclyde.

He is a member of numerous national and international shipping bodies and committees and the current Chairman of the Marine Technical Managers Association in Greece.

Dimitrios A. Heliotis, Chief Operating Officer & Technical Director, Target Marine Group

Dimitrios A. Heliotis, is the COO and Technical Director of Piraeus-based Target Marine Group comprising Target Marine SA and Horizon Tankers Limited SA, a position he has held since 2014.

He joined Target in 1999 as new building project manager and between then and becoming group technical director in 2005 he was responsible for all new building projects in major shipyards in Korea, Japan and China.

On obtaining an MSc in Air Transport Engineering and Management at Cranfield Institute of Technology (UK) to go with a B.Eng. Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hull, (UK) he initially worked as an independent consultant and surveyor in Piraeus.

In 1993 he joined Elkco Marine Consultants, before joining marine consulting firm Marinecare Ltd and, from 1996 to joining Target, he was a superintendent engineer for Navitas Co S.A a bulk carrier operator.

Memberships include: UK Engineering Council, Chartered Engineer; Fellow member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects; Technical Chamber of Greece; Hellenic Technical Committees of: LR, DNV, ABS and NK; Vice Chairman of MARTECMA, Vice Chairman of the Intertanko Safety, Technical and Environmental committee (ISTEC), and a member of BIMCO Marine Safety and Security Committee (MSSC).

Michael Jeppesen, Promotion Manager, MAN Energy Solutions

Michael Jeppesen obtained a Master of Business degree in August 2017, “The Blue MBA” within Shipping & Logistics from Copenhagen Business School. Further, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering obtained from Copenhagen Teknikum University in 1989.

• Joined MAN Diesel's Two-Stroke Promotion & Customer Support Department in July 2010 and was appointed Promotion Manager. Presently responsible for Greece, Croatia Cyprus and Israel.
• Manager for MAN Diesel's Two-Stroke Maintenance Tools Department 2005-2010.
• Section manager for MAN Diesel's Two Stroke PrimeServ Diesel, Technical Service Department 2003-2005.
• Project manager for BWSC, dealing with diesel power plants for Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor 2001-2003.
• Superintendent engineer for MAN Diesel's Two-Stroke Operation Department, specialist within cylinder condition 1991-2001.
• Project engineer for MAN Diesel's Two Stroke Installation Department 1989-1991.

Spiros Kalimeris, Sales Engineer, OCEANKING SA

Spiros Kalimeris has joined OCEANKING since 2018 as a Sales Engineer dealing with New Building projects and electrical system retrofits.

Prior to joining OCEANKING team he worked in a ship management company where he gained experience as Electrical Superintendent and Fleet Support Engineer.

He holds a diploma in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens.

John Kokarakis, Technology & Business Development Director HBSA Zone, Bureau Veritas

Dr Kokarakis a 1979 graduate of National Technical University of Athens, holds PhD (1986) and Masters degrees in Naval Architecture (1983) and Mechanical Engineering (1984) from the University of Michigan.

He worked for over ten years as a consultant undertaking technical problems worldwide. His specialization was in the area of technical investigation of marine accidents. In his capacity as a forensic engineer he participated in the technical investigation of the Exxon Valdez grounding, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the drillship Sea-Crest capsize, the Piper Alpha fire and explosion, the Aleutian Enterprise foundering in Alaska as well as many other accidents of less notoriety.

The last twenty years he works in Greece, in the area of classification. He is today the Technical Director of Bureau Veritas in the Hellenic and Black Sea & Zone, responsible for the smooth technical operation in the Zone as well as in the harmonic cooperation with the BV offices worldwide to the benefit of the BV clients.

He is a member of SNAME since 1976 and a Fellow of the Society. He served in various capacities, being currently the Chairman of the Greek Section since 2014.

Panos Kourkountis, Technical Director, Sea Traders SA

Panos Kourkountis is the Technical Director of Sea Traders SA. He studied Naval Architecture and Mechanical Engineering in the National Technical University of Athens. Since 1994 he worked as Superintendent, Site manager of new building projects, Technical Manager and Technical Director of Andriaki Shipping Co. Ltd. In January 2018 he joined Procopiou Group of companies as Technical Director of Sea Traders SA.

He is vice president of Marine Technical Managers Association (MARTECMA), and member of Hellenic Technical Chamber (TEE), ABS Europe Technical Committee, Lloyd’s Register Hellenic Technical Committee, DNV Greek Technical Committee, RINA Technical Committee, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers SNAME, Naval Architects Association of Greece, Mechanical Engineers’ Association of Greece, Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology (ELINT).

George Laios, Deputy CEO, Intermodal Shipbrokers Co

George is the Deputy CEO of the Intermodal Group and at the same time responsible for the Group’s clients’ financial advisory. Prior to joining Intermodal, he was the Business Development Manager of NJ Goulandris Maritime Inc, following 14 years at the shipping department of the Royal Bank of Scotland – where he last held the title of the Senior Director, Ship Finance.

Since 2013, he has been member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Banking and Financial Executives of Hellenic Shipping, currently holding the position of the Deputy General Secretary.

George holds a Bachelor’s degree in Shipping Business Administration and a Master’s degree (MSc) in International Economics, Banking and Finance.

Dong Gu Lee, Senior Engineer, Hyundai Electric

Dong Gu Lee has been working on marine electric systems and switchboard designs from 2007 for most kinds of cargo ship and special purpose vessel (naval, drilling ship/rig, etc).

He is a lead engineer with a vast experiences in switchboard & AMP for major shipyards, (HHI, HSHI, DSME and Chinese shipyards).

Leonidas Margetis, Sustainability and Environmental Compliance Manager, Tsakos Columbia Shipmanagement

Leonidas Margetis is working for the Tsakos Columbia Shipmanagement since 2013, as responsible for the company’s environmental management system and fleet’s environmental compliance. He currently holds the position of Sustainability and Environmental Compliance Manager.

He is an Environmental Engineer and Marine Biologist with two Masters of Science in sustainability and maritime technology. An IMarEST member and a member of Intertanko’s Environmental Committee.

Johnnie Nielsen, Sales Manager, Retrofit & Upgrade, MAN PrimeServ, MAN Energy Solutions

Johnnie Nilesen has a background as Marine Engineer and has been sailing for a period of 10 years with various companies, but most of the time with Maersk Tankers.

He started working for MAN Energy Solutions in 2006, selling spare parts for two-stroke engines and after five years he became Key Account Manager.

For the last two years he helds the position of Sales Manager for Retrofit & Upgrades.

George A. Papagiannopoulos, Principal, Common Progress Compania Naviera SA

George was born in Athens in 1983.

He graduated from the University College of London in 2004 with a Masters degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

After completing his military service in 2006, he began working at Common Progress S.A. first by sailing for 3 months onboard a vessel. In 2007 he took charge of the company’s shipbuilding program and in 2009 he relocated to China from where he returned to Greece in 2011. He works until today at the company's head office in Athens.

He is a member of the Hellenic Committees of Lloyds Register and Bureau Veritas and member of the Greek Technical Committee of Det Norske Veritas. He is also a member of the Committee on Maritime Safety and Protection of the Marine Environment and the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the Union of Greek Shipowners.

Tom Perlich, Regional Senior Vice President – EMEA, Drew Marine

Tom Perlich has over 35 years of experience in a wide range of environmentally friendly marine and land-based specialty chemical and water treatment applications.

After being well established in his career, Tom identified the vast potential of the global Ballast Water Technology (BWT) market. This motivated Tom to leave the security of his Corporate career to found Ecochlor based on his USA and International Patents. The challenge of obtaining the required Class, IMO and USCG approvals for the technology were overcome and allowed Tom grow the global sales to over $80 million dollars.

Tom joined Drew Marine in March 2021 and was recently named Regional Senior Vice President of Drew Marine’s European, Middle Eastern and African regional of its Marine, Oil & Gas business.

After joining Drew Marine, Tom leveraged his technical knowledge and experience to bring additional environmentally friendly products and technologies into the Drew Marine portfolio.

Tom holds a B.S. in Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology and is currently based in Cyprus where he has resided since 2015.

Philippos Sfiris, Market Intelligence and Business Development Manager, Marine, Hempel A/S

Philippos Sfiris is the Market Intelligence and Business Development Manager for Global Marine business at Hempel A/S.

Work experience

2013-present: Market Intelligence and Business Development Manager, Marine, Hempel A/S.

Driving growth based on data-driven insights from the market and customers. Providing simulations to assess the impact of Hempel's offering on customers' business including quantification of TCO savings, ROI, EEXI/CII improvement and vessel earnings ability boost.

2006-2013: Marketing Manager, Theodorou Group.

Designed and implemented marketing strategies for the companies of the Group including Theodorou Automation and Zenon.

Education

Athens University of Economics and Business: Marketing & Communication (MSc)

University of Aegean: Product and System Design Engineering (MSc)

Piraeus University of Applied Sciences: Automation Engineering (BSc)

Bill Stamatopoulos, Business Development Manager, Bureau Veritas VeriFuel

Bill Stamatopoulos holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and an MBA with specialisation in Total Quality Management from the University of Leicester.

He joined Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in 1991 and in 2010 Bill became the Regional Manager of DNV Petroleum Services for Europe, responsible for sales, lab operations, technical, surveys and consultancy.

Since 2004 he is appointed at the Hellenic Organization for Standardization, Committee 66 for Petroleum Products, by the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping.

Bill is a co-Author of 'Marine Fuels', a specialised book in shipping, published in 2008 and the main author of the book’s latest editions published in 2018 and 2021.

During the last 20 years, Bill has given several presentations and training courses on all fuel related issues and has also been involved in bunker claims as a fuel expert. He is a member of advisory panels and working groups such as Intertanko Bunker Sub Committee and IMO MSC.

From October 1st, 2015, Bill joined Bureau Veritas as Business Development Manager for the organisation’s Marine Fuel Services brand, VeriFuel.

Antonis Trakakis, Technical Director, Marine, RINA

Antonis Trakakis studied Mechanical Engineering at NTUA and carried graduate studies at von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in the field of Turbomachinery.

He worked for shipping companies , both in ropax and ocean freighter sectors, and joined RINA in Oct 2020 as Technical Director, Marine.

In his previous employments he engaged extensively with the application of LNG and alternative fuels in deep sea shipping and with issues relevant to operation of ships in sensitive areas like the Baltic sea.

Among his special concerns are the formation and control of emissions, and engine efficiency.

Stamatis Tsantanis, Chairman and CEO, Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp

Stamatis Tsantanis is the Chairman and CEO of Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHIP). Stamatis has more than 23 years of experience in shipping and capital markets. He joined Seanergy in 2012 and led its significant growth to a world renowned Capesize drybulk company of more than 3.0 million dwt.

Prior to joining Seanergy, he served as group CFO and director in prominent private and public shipping companies. Prior to that, he was an investment banker at Alpha Finance, with key role in major shipping corporate finance transactions in the U.S. capital markets.

Stamatis is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and holds a Master’s degree in Shipping Trade and Finance from Bayes (formerly Cass) Business School in London and a Bachelor’s degree in Shipping Economics from the University of Piraeus.

George A. Tsavliris, Principal, Tsavliris Salvage Group

Mr George A. Tsavliris was born in London. He graduated from Athens College in 1968 and having acquired professional qualifications in Shipping (F.I.C.S., ACI.Arb), he concluded his graduate and post graduate studies in Shipping Law at University College London in 1973, with an L.L.M. degree. In 2009 he was qualified as a Mediator at the ADR Group London and in 2014 was certified as a Mediator by the Greek Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights.

He familiarised himself with the shipping and salvage sectors from a very early age by being engaged in the family business. George is a Principal at “Tsavliris Salvage Group” and represents the business on both a commercial and environmental basis internationally. He holds the position of Past Chairman of INTERMEPA (International Marine Environment Protection Association), Chairman of CYMEPA (Cyprus Marine Environmental Protection Association), which received the “Cyprus Maritime Prize 2007”, as well as member of the Board of Directors of Cyprus Union of Shipowners, Board Member of ECSA (European Community Shipowners’ Associations), Board Member of The Yacht Club of Greece, Board Member of Friends of Hellas Liberty Association and the Jubilee Sailing Trust in the UK and Honorary Chairman of the Tsavliris Cultural Foundation. Furthermore, Mr George Tsavliris is Member of the Academic Board of Metropolitan College / Solent Southampton University. Mr George Tsavliris was awarded the 2016 Capital Link Greek Shipping Leadership Award, in recognition of his unique and extensive contribution to Shipping and Greece and for his overall outstanding service to the shipping industry made by him individually, as a family and by his company as a Group. In Jan 2019, Mr Tsavliris received the Cyprus Environmental Award on behalf of CYMEPA by the President of the Cypriot Republic Mr Nikos Anastasiades and on March 12, 2019, Mr Tsavliris was recognized with the Safety4Sea Leadership Award 2019 for his work with CYMEPA and other national & international organizations, toward the protection of the marine environment. On July 1, 2019, Mr Tsavliris was appointed Non- Executive Chairman of OneGlobal Broking, Greece & Cyprus.

In December 2019, Mr Tsavliris published the book, which he co-wrote with Alba University Professor, Paul Emmanuelides, Winning Shipping Strategies: Theory and Evidence from Leading Shipowners. The book was translated into the Greek language and published in March 2021.

George is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist at numerous maritime related conferences. He is an avid supporter of various charities, an art and music enthusiast and has completed ten London marathons. He is a father of six children.

Harry Vafias, President / CEO, StealthGas Inc

Harry Vafias founded Stealth Maritime Corp in 1999. Stealth Maritime Corp has invested in excess of USD 1 billion in new generation newbuilds between 2007-2010 for the renewal of its tanker fleet and today operates twenty-two 50,000 – 120,000 dwt modern double hull oil tankers.

In 2004 he founded Stealthgas which was listed in NASDAQ in October 2005 and up to today has raised approx. $500 mill from the capital markets. Stealthgas owns 50 gas ships (including newbuilds) and 4 oil tankers and is the largest company, by number of owned vessels, in gas transportation worldwide.

In 2005 Harry Vafias founded Estates Corporation Inc, a real estate company, investing in Greece, London, New York, Monaco and Switzerland.

In 2008 Harry Vafias was awarded by the NASDAQ for being the youngest CEO of a listed shipping company worldwide.

In 2010 he was elected vice chairman of the INTERTANKO Mediterranean panel. In the same year Harry Vafias was awarded the SEATRADE young person in shipping award.

In 2012 he was awarded by Lloyds list newspaper for being ‘newsmaker of the year for 2012’.

In 2013 Harry Vafias and StealthGas were awarded by Lloyds List ‘Best Tanker Company of the Year for 2013’.

In 2018 was elected President of the consular corps in Greece.

Mr Vafias is also a member of the ABS classification society committee, of the NK classification society committee, of the KR classification society committee, member of the board of the BSA (Bahamas shipowners association) and a member of the board of BCA (business school of Athens).

Emmanuel Vergetis, South Europe Senior Consultant, Marine & Offshore, Lloyd's Register

Emmanuel Vergetis is responsible for Lloyd’s Register’s Consulting Services for South Europe, including Data & Digital Solutions for Greece Cyprus and Israel. He is a graduate from National Technical University of Athens and holds a degree of Naval & Mechanical Engineer. His work as a PhD candidate and scientific researcher in European projects was dedicated in Oil Spill Confrontation.

He has served in various positions in the Marine Industry and has also gained extensive experience in engineering, supervision and construction of shore based Electrical & Mechanical Installations.

He has been awarded with US Patents and has gained extensive experience as EPC contractor of Renewable Energy projects in several European countries and India.

Antony Vourdachas, Principal Engineer, Global Sustainability Greece, ABS

Antony Vourdachas joined ABS in April 2014 and is currently working for Global Sustainability as Principal Engineer working on environmental and performance issues.

He started his career as a Design and Production Engineer at the Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth and moved on to become a Research Associate at the School of Marine Science and Technology at Newcastle University involved in a European Ballast Water project (MARTOB). Prior to joining ABS, he worked for OSG in a number of technical positions in project engineering and planned maintenance.

Antony holds a B.Eng. in Small Craft Engineering and an M.Res. in Marine Engineering from the School of Marine Science and Technology at Newcastle University, England.

Panos Zachariadis, Technical Director, Atlantic Bulk Carriers

Panos Zachariadis is a Mechanical Engineer (BSc) and Naval Architect (MSE) from the University of Michigan with a 38-year experience in shipping, having served for years as Marine Superintendent in New York, after periods of shipbuilding supervision in Japan and sea service in bulk carriers and oil tankers.

He is Technical Director of Atlantic Bulk Carriers since 1997 and a member of the Greek Delegation to IMO since 2004, having contributed to the development of several well-known regulations (e.g. GBS, PSPC, FSA) and the prevention of others (e.g. double hull bulk carriers, mandatory EEOI). In cooperation with major Korean shipyards he has applied numerous energy saving ideas for ships, some of which have become industry standards.

He is a member of Technical Committees of several classification societies, UGS and Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, BIMCO Marine Committee, BoD HELMEPA and MARTECMA. He has been honored with the 2011 Efkranti award for his contribution to Greek shipping, the Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners Association 2017 Maritime Personality award, the 2017 Lloyd's List "Achievement in Safety or Environmental Protection" award and the 2019 Green4Sea "Personality" award.