Dr. Helen A. Thanopoulou is Professor in Operations Management of Shipping Companies at the Department of Shipping, Trade and Transport of the University of the Aegean and currently, since 2014, Head of the Department. She has studied economics at the University of Athens and continued her postgraduate studies at the University of Paris I, Panthéon -­Sorbonne. She holds a Doctorate degree in Maritime Studies from the University of Piraeus where she taught briefly. She spent the next 8 years in Wales, as Lecturer and later Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University serving for many years as a Director of shipping related postgraduate courses also. She returned to Greece following her election, in late 2003, to a new post in the Department of Shipping, Trade and Transport on Chios Island where she lives. She has published on shipping related subjects including maritime crises, shipping competitiveness, shipping investment patterns, UK shipping policy, liner alliances and ports, quality shipping, and maritime innovation in academic journals (such as Transportation Research Part E, Marine Policy, Maritime Policy and Management, Maritime Economics and Logistics etc.) and is an author or contributor to books and edited volumes. Prof. Thanopoulou has been active in associations related to maritime studies having served also as Council member of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME). She has served as Guest Edit or and member of Editorial Boards and as reviewer for a substantial number of international academic journals. Dr. Thanopoulou is a regular guest lecturer in undergraduate and post-­graduate shipping related courses at various universities in Europe and Asia and has acted as external evaluator of European postgraduate courses.

Evangelos Chatzis is the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of Danaos Corporation. Mr. Chatzis has been with Danaos Corporation since 2005 and has over 21 years of experience in corporate finance and the shipping industry. During his years with Danaos he has been actively engaged in the company’s initial public offering in the United States and has led the finance function of the company. Throughout his career he has developed considerable experience in operations, corporate finance, treasury and risk management and international business structuring. Prior to joining Danaos, Evangelos was the Chief Financial Officer of Globe Group of Companies, a public company in Greece engaged in a diverse scope of activities including dry bulk shipping, the textile industry, food production & distribution and real estate. During his years with Globe Group, he was involved in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and privatizations. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the London School of Economics, a Master’s of Science degree in Shipping & Finance from City University Cass Business School, as well as a post-graduate diploma in Shipping Risk Management from IMD Business School.

Athens College Class of ’97
City University, London: BSc (Hons) Sociology/Economics, 2000 – MSc Shipping, Trade and Finance, 2001
2002 joined bulk carrier operator Fairsky Shipping and Trading S.A. Along with siblings Alexander and John, upgraded the operational performance based on the ABS HSQE Standard.
2009 launched tanker operator Almi Tankers S.A. based on a firm commitment to operational integrity in order to gain the trust of the market. The Integrated Management System, incorporates the requirements of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and TMSA2. To ensure the long-term strategic agility of the company, the Investors In People Standard helps each team member understand how their daily work contributes to the execution of the Strategy, communicated through Balanced Scorecards. Active participation in the improvement of the company’s performance is encouraged through structured dialogues in Strategic Focus Groups, during which seamen and Head Office people discuss company and industry issues. We focus on four Strategic Pillars, training and developing our people, improving our internal processes, achieving customer satisfaction and ensuring our financial sustainability.

Employment
1999-present: KARLOG SHIPPING COMPANY LTD.
Granikou street, 151 25 Marousi – Athens
Assistant to the operations department. Responsible for the management & operation of vessels.
Responsible for aspects of Technical department (surveys, certificates etc). Attendance in several Special Surveys, Dry-dockings, Pre-purchase inspections Deliveries. Dealings with closings for delivery purposes.
1994 June-September: Apprentice at “LINK MARITIME SHIPBROKING” – Piraeus, Greece
Education & Academic Qualification:
1998-1999 : MSC in International Trade & Transport with    focus in shipping at London Guildhall University.
1994-1998: BSC in management at the American Deree Collegue of Greece with degree 3,2/4.
1994 : Graduated from Arsakion Greek High School with degree 18/20.
LANGUAGES:
GREEK – Native , ENGLISH – Fluent, FRENCH – Good, SPANISH – Average
INTERESTS
Sports of all kinds (wind surfing, tennis, yoga), music, traveling.

Ioanna G.   Procopiou   graduated   from   Bath   University   in   2000,   with   a   BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. After University she continued her studies gaining an MSc from City University in Shipping Trade and Finance. In 2003, after an internship in Sernavimar in Rome and Poten and Partners in New York, she joined Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd in Glyfada, Greece. In 2010, after heading the Sale and Purchase and Projects activities in Dynacom for 4 years, Ioanna formed Prominence Maritime S.A. a company which manages 6 bulk carriers. In addition to the above   Ioanna   supervises   all activities of   Sea   Traders   S.A., which   currently manages 35 bulk carriers. Apart from these shipping activities, Ioanna is also actively involved in real estate development, as well as human resources for Dynacom Tankers Management, Dynagas Ltd and Sea Traders S.A. Ioanna is an elected member on the board of the Union of Greek Shipowners Association and is a founding member of a charity organization called Syn-Enosis (Συν-Ένωσις).

Charalampos Simantonis is the President of the Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners Association since 2012 and President and Managing Director of Sea Plus Management. He studied maritime economics in the Instituto Univeritario Navale di Napoli and has been active in the shipping industry since 1980. He started his career in his family company engaged in passenger shipping. In 1989 he established his first shipping with passenger vessels. Since 1992 he has been active in tramp shipping with shortsea vessels. Mr. Simantonis is also member of the Board of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and of Seamen Pension Fund (NAT), as well as member of RINA’s Ship-owners committee and BCA’s Academic committee.

Panos Vafias was born in Athens in 1972. He holds a  BSc Double Major Degree in Marketing and Management along a Minor Degree in Human Resources Management, Cum Laudae from Babson College, Boston MA. (1994) He also holds a MSc in Shipping Trade & Finance, Honors Degree from City University, London. (1996). He has a 3 years working experience as Marketing Manager in Vafias Bros S.A. a Wholesale Meat Importing Company. Since January 1999 he has been the Financial Manager of Brave Maritime Corporation Inc. Since March 2000 that Stealth Maritime Corporation S.A. was founded,  he is the Financial Manager. Since January 2001 he has been Group’s Human Resources Manager.

Professor in Geochemical Oceanography and Head of the Maritime Studies Department of the University of Piraeus, Director of the Laboratory of Geochemical Oceanography.
She earned her BSC in Chemistry from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and her PhD in Applied Marine Geochemistry from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, University of London. She holds an MPhil in Oceanography from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and a DIC in organic synthesis from Imperial College, University of London.
She has worked as geochemist expert/consultant in Hydrex and as oceanographer at the Hellenic Centre of Marine Sciences. For 14 years she served as national expert on climate change issues in the EU, DG XI.
She has been a member of various scientific committees, including The Committee on Biophysico-Chemical Processes in Environmental Systems of IUPAC. She is reviewer in scientific journals and evaluator of research proposals. For many years, she was a member of the Steering Committee of the Postgraduate Programme in Shipping of the University of Piraeus. She was Board Member of the Union of Greek Oceanographers as well as Board member of the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage. She has participated in many scientific conferences committees.
Fani Sakellariadou is the author of more than 150 scientific papers, articles, monographs and 2 books covering Geochemical studies of marine sediments and more specifically about heavy metals, dissolved organic carbon, humic substances, Pollutant studies in harbor sediments, Integrated coastal zone management, Environmental impacts of shipping and Blue growth.
She loves the sea and she likes visual arts. She is mother of two children.

Angie is an active member of the Greek shipping community for the last 23 years. In 1984, Angie attended courses at the University of La Verne. In 1989 she obtained her Diploma in Travel & Tourism from Hosta International Leysin in Switzerland. Between 1989 and 1991, Angie worked in Genova for TWA. In 1992, Angie returned to Greece and until presently she manages the crew functions of various family owned companies such as Oceanbulk Maritime S.A. and Star Bulk S.A. Also, Angie is an active member of WISTA (Hellas) since 1999 and President of WISTA (Hellas) since April 2014. She is bilingual (English/Greek) and also speaks French. Finally, she has attended numerous maritime conferences either as a participant or speaker.

Jerry Kalogiratos currently serves as CEO and CFO of NASDAQ listed Capital Product Partners L.P and CFO and director of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp. Mr. Kalogiratos joined Capital Maritime & Trading Corp. in 2005 and was part of the team that completed the IPO of Capital Product Partners L.P. in 2007. He has also served as Chief Financial Officer and director of NYSE-listed Crude Carriers Corp. He has over 11 years of experience in the shipping and finance industries, specializing in vessel acquisition and projects and shipping finance. Before he joined Capital Maritime, he worked in equity sales in Greece. He completed his MA in European Economics and Politics at the Humboldt University in Berlin and holds a B.A. degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and an Executive Finance degree from the London Business School.

Tassos Kampas was born in Athens in 1970 and graduated from the Nautical Marine Academy of Hydra. For the last year he is the Chief Operating Officer and HSQE/Vetting Manager of SEAVEN Management Inc (Tanker-Dry). He is an ex Master Mariner with 14 years sea service on board dry, tanker / chemical vessels and in off-shore / oil platforms petroleum operations for well-established Hellenic and International Companies. For the last 15 years he has served in Hellenic and multinational companies in various positions as a Marine Superintendent and Internal Auditor, HSQE / Vetting Manager and Operations Manager.

Since 1988 he works in the Shipping sector of the Onassis Group, where he served in various positions. In 2009 he was appointed as the General Manager of Springfield Shipping (Onassis Group). He was born and raised in Athens. He is a graduate of Lycee Leonin High School and holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Athens, a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Piraeus.  He completed his post-graduate studies in London; he earned a MSc in Management Science from the Imperial College. Member of INTERTANKO Council and Vice-Chairman of the Intertanko Mediterranean Panel, Member of the DNV, NK and KR Greek Committee and Fellow Member of ICS (Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers).

George Skrimizeas has been General Manager of Allseas Marine S.A. since 2005 and Chief Operating Officer of Paragon Shipping Inc. since 2006 and Box Ships Inc. since 2013. From 1996 to 2005, Mr. Skrimizeas has held various positions in Allseas, Eurocarriers and their affiliates, including General Manager, Accounts and Human Resources Manager, and Finance and Administration Manager. Mr. Skrimizeas has more than 25 years experience in the Shipping sector and has worked in Athens, Romania, Hong Kong and London based companies.  Mr. Skrimizeas received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University Of Piraeus, Greece in 1988 and completed the coursework necessary to obtain his Masters of Science in Finance from the University of Leicester, in the United Kingdom, in 2002.  Mr. Skrimizeas is a member of the Hellenic Chamber of Economics, the Hellenic Management Association, the Hellenic Association of Chief Executive Officers and member of the Business Advisory Committee of the ICMA center Henley Business school in the U.K.  (Msc in International Shipping and Finance) and member of the Business Advisory Committee of the Alba Graduate Business School , member of the International Propeller Club of the United States, and various other  Board of Directors. Mr. Skrimizeas has been nominated as the  Hellenic Quality Leader for the year 2014  from  the Hellenic Management Association (ΕΕΔΕ). 

DPA / CSO
Acting as the first responder and troubleshooter to any emergency for the company’s vessels conducting incident
investigations, compiling reports, responsible for the company’s response and closing out of all kind of deficiencies
Responsible for Security Inspections, experienced on preventing and resolving security incidents
Monitoring inspections for vessels as an internal auditor, cooperating with vessel external auditors, working closely with
technical staff to resolve maintenance issues according to classification societies.
Checking and reviewing superintendent reports, and audits, coordinating with Masters, assessing vessel compliance
and reporting to managing board.
Responsible of the application and implementation of Policies, Procedures and InstructionsAttending ships and coordinating with all company departments and ship crew to implement the quality and safety
policy based on international conventions, codes and national legislation and major oil companies requirements.
Responsible for Company’s management systems, such as ISM, ISPS, ISO14001, OHSAS and TMSA

European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport
2014 to present
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Responsible for Development, Strategic Projects and Cohesion, Government of Slovenia
2014
Chief of the Program Committee of the SMC Party, Slovenia
2013-2014
CEO of Vibacom Ltd, Sustainable Strategies and Innovation Ecosystems
2000-2014
Vice-President, Telemach Ltd, telecommunications provider
1999-2000
Director of Carrier Business, Telekom Slovenia
1997-1999
Manager of Institutional Traffic, Telekom Slovenia
1994–1997
Expert for wide area networks performance analyses, Dhl Systems, Burlingame, California, USA
1991-1994
Master’s degree in Information Technology, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California, USA
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Informatics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

George Xiradakis graduated from the Nautical Marine Academy of Aspropyrgos-Athens and he holds a diploma in Commercial Operations from City of London Polytechnic and an MSc  in Maritime Studies from University of Wales.
In his banking carrier (1991-1998) he served as Vice President of Credit Lyonnais Shipping Group and Head of European Shipping finance activities and as Head of Greek, Indian and Middle East Shipping. In 1999 he founded XRTC Business Consultants and since then he has been the Managing Director of the Company. XRTC acted as Commercial Representative of the French Banks Credit Lyonnais (up to 2004) and Natixis (up to 2008). Since 2009, XRTC has been working closely with the Chinese ship finance market. In 2011 XRTC signed a Financial Consultancy Agreement with China Development Bank. XRTC has won the Greek Shipping Financier of the Year by Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Award 2010.
Mr. Xiradakis is a member of the Board of Directors of Paragon Shipping Inc (NASDAQ: PRGN). He also serves as the President of the Board of Governors of the International Propeller Club of the United States –International Port of Piraeus; he is also the General Secretary of the Association of Banking and Shipping Executives of Hellenic Shipping and a Board Member of the China-Greece Friendship Association. He is also member of Marine Club of Piraeus, HELMEPA, Member of the Mediterranean Committee of China Classification Society, Greece-China Chamber and member of President’s Advisory Council of American College of Greece. Mr. Xiradakis was member of the Board of Directors of DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) from 2008 up to November 2015, also was a member of the Board of Directors of Aries Maritime Transport, which has since changed its name to NewLead Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: NEWL). Mr. Xiradakis also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hellenic Public Real Estate Corporation and the first President of the National Center of Port Development.

Graduate of Cass Business School-City University of London on 2005, M.Sc. in Shipping, Trade and Finance, Cass Business School and graduate of University of Piraeus 2004, BSc in Shipping Economics.  Counting 9 years of working in the field of Shipping Market Research, I have gained worldwide acknowledgment for my expertise in the analysis of the real shipping market based on the microeconomic and macroeconomic fundamentals. Reporters from International Media (i.e Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Lloyd’s List, Tradewinds etc) use this analysis in their topics frequently. In parallel with my professional career in Shipping Market Analysis, I give a weekly online TV presentation in a Greek economic and business TV channel (SBC). In addition, I am a member of the critical committee for the provision of Efkranti Awards for the Greek shipping industry by the traditional Greek shipping magazine “NAFTIKA CHRONIKA”.

Athena Kanellatou studied Business Management and specialized in Economics, followed by Controlling and Internal Auditing, as well as Sales and Accounts Management.  Over the years she has attended numerous shipping, management, sales and technical education programmes along with MacGregor Academy courses and is member of relevant professional bodies. She has, since 90’s, been working for MacGregor, holding a number of key positions in the Greek entity being CFO, Business Controller, Managing Director and Global Life Cycle Support Sales Manager. During her long association with MacGregor Group, A. Kanellatou is actively involved in different company workgroups in Merchant Marine division and other managerial projects focusing on Greek shipping community. MacGregor is world leading provider of engineering solutions and services for handling marine cargoes and offshore loads, member of Cargotec Group stock listed in Helsinki.

Panos Kapetanakis was born in Athens in 1976. He has graduated in History from the University of Athens (1999). He has completed his Master degree in Modern Greek History (2005), and his Doctoral degree in Maritime History (2010) at the Ionian University, Corfu. His main research interests are in the fields of 19th and 20th c. maritime history, colonialism, British imperialism and Greek diaspora. He was member in research programmes and has participated in organizing several international scientific conferences. Since 2010 and for two years he has been external research fellow at the Institute of Historical Research/National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF). From September 2012 up to August 2015 he has been a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Historical Research/National Hellenic Research Foundation and the Greenwich Maritime Institute / University of Greenwich. He has participated in many international conferences and has published in several scientific journals and edited volumes. Since September 2015 he is working as Editorial Advisor at Naftika Chronika magazine.

George Teriakidis is a naval architect and currently holds the position of DNV GL Regional Business Development Manager, for Region South East Europe & Middle East. He has completed studies of B.Eng. in Marine Technology with Honours in Naval architecture at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne as well as of a M.Sc. in Ship Production Technology at Strathclyde University of Glasgow. Upon completion of his studies, he joined DNV office of Dubai, UAE as a trainee surveyor. During his 8 year stay in Dubai he became surveyor for various types of vessels and got involved in various projects.In 2006 he became the Service Manager for CAP surveys for Middle East & India as well as the debuty head of the DNV Dubai Maritime Service Centre. In August 2008 he joined DNV Piraeus as the Marketing and Business Development manager. Since then he has been working on business development towards the Greek and Cypriot market for Maritime as well as Oil & Gas. Also, he has delivered various presentations in seminars, training sessions and conferences. Since the merger of DNV and GL in 2013, he has been the Regional Business Development Manager for Region South East Europe and Middle East.

He is married and is the proud father of a young princess. During his free time he still enjoys photography and listening to music.

Eva Tzima currently holds the position of Head of Research & Valuations at Intermodal Shipbrokers Co., where she has been working as a shipping market analyst since 2012. Her work has been focusing on the analysis of the Freight, SnP, Newbuilding and Demolition markets, while she has also been cooperating with all the Greek banks as well as numerous shipowners, providing either ship valuations or appraisals of potential investments. Previous to Intermodal and for almost three years she worked as an investment manager for a privately owned portfolio, investing in derivatives and stocks of energy and maritime companies. Previous to that, from 2004 until the end of 2009, she worked at Trafalgar Asset Managers Ltd in London, mainly focusing in private equity projects in the energy, shipping and aviation industries as well as in distressed debt investments. During her employment with Trafalgar she acted as a board director across a number of entities affiliated to Trafalgar. Ms. Tzima holds a BSc in Management from the American College of Greece and an MSc in Insurance & Risk Management from Cass Business School in the UK.

Born in Athens, Greece in 1963. Emeritus graduate from Arsakeio School (established in 1836), of Psychiko, Athens, Greece (1981 class). Emeritus in all classes of High School. Degree in Law from Athens Law School, Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece (1986). LL.M. in Corporate and Commercial Law (QMC, London, U.K., 1987). Barrister at the Athens Court of Appeal (1993). Has held partnerships, legal counsel, head of legal department and legal directorship positions since 1988, with leading ship-management companies, institutions, law firms and insurance brokers. She has been holding the position of Legal Director of Danaos Shipping Co. Ltd. since April 2003. Speaker and panelist at various conferences (Tradewinds Marine Risk Forum London 2014 and Marine Risk Forum Athens 2012 and 2014, 6th Pan-Hellenic Lawyers Forum Athens 2014, In-House Counsel Forum London 2007 etc.). Has offered lectures and served as Instructor on shipping law and E.C. law (business and legal aspects), at the American College of Greece, Deree College, for 3 years (1991-1994). She has successfully concluded a vast number of legal closings (+500) and provided legal advice for same (s&p, finance, newbuilding contracts, IPO and NYSE post-listing legal due diligence and support, financial restructurings etc.).She has also concluded numerous H&M, P&I, WAR and D&O renewals spanning over 25 years, for various leading ship-management companies, inclusive of her current position accomplishments. She has been active on risk management, whilst in parallel she has represented and assisted her clients with hundreds of litigation cases worldwide. She is currently serving a 2-years’ term as Governor and Chairwoman of the Fundraising Committee of the International Propeller Club of the U.S., International Port of Piraeus and she is an active member of WISTA (Women’s International Shipping and Trade Association), Hellas.