Almost 40 years in shipping industry. Since 1977 working in Golden Union Shipping Group.

In 1984 was appointed as Purchasing Manager.  In 1989 was appointed to set up and develop Golden Cargo as Managing Director.

Born and raised in Chios. Graduate the City of London Polytechnic (London University).  Holds a BSc in Maritime Economics and MSc in Logistics

27 years in the shipping industry . The first 3 years from 1991 till 1994 I was employed in the crew dept of Golden Union Shipping , after this period I moved to Golden Cargo as an accountant . Stay 3 years till I move to the import dept as import manager and responsible on the same time for the network agent payments and receivables .

On 1999 I promoted as operation manager and business development manager  and the last 3 years promoted as General Manager of Golden Cargo having also the import dept and the sales activities of our group .

I was born in S.Africa and raised in Athens, graduate from the Technological Educational Institute of Athens and I have degree in accounting.

I am holder of customs broker license and approved  , I am keeping the certificate of 1^st class accounting raised by the economical chamber of Athens and  I am member of the economical chamber of Athens . I have certificates for transportation of dangerous goods along with the certificate for the basic general cargo approved by the IATA .

Born and raised in Vrontados, Chios with a family with strong ties to shipping and seamanship, graduated from the University of Plymouth in 1998 and hold a BSc degree in Maritime Business & Maritime Law.

Following his military service, joined Golden Cargo SA in 2001 and currently holds the position of business development for the air & sea product in Golden Cargo SA and maintains a team leader role in the export department actively involved in the daily operational activities.

Sebastian Ostermann, Global Industry Manager Industrial Spare Parts – LUFTHANSA

Theodore E. Veniamis

President, Union of the Greek Shipowners

President & Managing Director, Golden Union Shipping Co. SA

Mr. Theodore Veniamis was born in Vrontados Chios in 1950. He graduated from the University of Athens (School of Business and Economics) obtaining the extended title/specialization in Economics and Law.

Since 1977, he is the founding director of Golden Union Shipping Co. S.A., a dry cargo Ship Management – Operating company of which he is the President/CEO. Golden Union currently operates 41 dry bulk carriers of about 5.5 million TDW and with another 6 vessels on order. He is the head of Golden Union Group, which in addition is actively involved in a growing number of shipping and non-shipping related activities.

Since 2009, Mr. Veniamis is the President of the Union of the Greek Shipowners and an elected member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee since 1987.

Mr. Veniamis is President of Otesat Maritel (Telecommunications services provider) and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Mutual War Risk Association. He is also the Honorary Chairman of the DNV Hellenic Committee, a Non-Executive Director of North of England P&I Association, Member of the Hellenic Advisory Committee of Lloyds Register, Member of the Hellenic Committee of RINA (Italian Class Society), Member of the Greek National Committee of ABS (American Bureau of Shipping

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.

Mr. Nicolaos Veniamis was born in Athens in 1984 and he is from Vrondado of Chios. He has graduated from Manchester Business School (MBS), with a degree in Business Administration.  He, then, proceeded with his postgraduate studies in shipping at MIT and at City University of London in Maritime Law. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS).

In 2012 he founded and holds the position of CEO of Starboard Shipping and Trading, which manages bulk carriers, with specialization in Panamax vessels (70-85,000 DWT). The company manages today 18 vessels. He is also Director of Golden Union, which manages 48 bulk carriers.

He is a member of the board of the Union of Greek Shipowners  (U.G.S.) as well as a member of the board of the  European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA). Lastly, he is member of the board of The London P&I Club and the Hellenic War Risk Insurance.

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 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 on the directors board of the North of England P&I association and is an elected member on the board of the Union of Greek Shipowners Association.

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 on one of the company’s ships. 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 offices 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.

Basil holds a first class honours MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Basil has been the Managing Director of Alassia NewShips Management Inc since the company was founded by Nicolas Hadjioannou in 2009. Alassia is a ship management company offering the full spectrum of services, and currently managing a fleet of 11 modern mostly Japanese dry bulk vessels (ranging from Handysize to Capesize) with an average age of just over 5 years and total carrying capacity of in excess of 800,000 dwt.

Basil started his career in investment banking with NM Rothschild & Sons Ltd in London. He subsequently worked in mid-market UK private equity investing, first with European Capital Financial Services Ltd and then with the Principal Investments Group of HSBC, both in London. Basil also served on the Board of Directors of Safebulkers Inc as a non-executive member from the IPO in 2008 until the formation of Alassia in 2009.

Danae Bezantakou is CEO of Navigator Shipping Consultants, shareholder of KEFI S.A. (Travel Agency) and MATILDA HOTEL in Zakynthos Island. She is also President of iforU-Greek Mentoring Network, which empowers women’s entrepreneurship through mentoring, a founding partner and President of the 1st Hellenic U.S. Alumni Association of State Department. She is the founder of YES Forum, the leading platform of open dialogue in the Greek Shipping and Sea Tourism Industry among principals, executives and university students, recent graduates and young executives. Danae represented Greece twice in International Visitor Leadership Programs (IVLP) “Women in Leadership” organized by Hilary Clinton (March 2011) & “On Demand Opportunity: Alumni Association Development” (December 2017), has been selected to be one of the European Young Leaders (2014) and her name was included in the “Purpose Economy Europe 100 List 2014”, as well as in the 40under40 list of Fortune Greece. She was also appointed as Young Global Leader from World Economic Forum for the years 2015-2020, holds Global Dignity’s Greek Country Chair and has been nominated to join the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network with more than 5,000 world-leading experts engaged by the Forum to help shape the global agenda. She has an 8 year old daughter.

Executive Director

Investments & Finance Ltd

(www.investmentsandfinance.com)

(https://gr.linkedin.com/in/kstathopoulou)

Katerina has a total working experience of 36 years of which 32 years have been in managerial positions in the fields of Shipping and Banking.

Since 2000, Katerina has been with Investments & Finance Ltd as Executive Director. The company is a financial consultancy firm dedicated in providing financial and investment advisory services to shipping and corporate clients. She has also held the positions of Head of Shipping Finance and Credit Committee member for two Greek private Banks, and Assistant CFO for Athenian Sea Carriers.

Katerina is Executive Committee Member of WISTA International, active member of WISTA Hellas, member of the Greek Shipping Bankers Association, member of the International Propeller Club in Greece, member of the Advisory Board of Blue Growth, as well as Mentor and Board Member of iforU.

In 2016 Katerina co-organised the 1^st Young Executives Shipping Forum held during POSIDONIA 2016, and continues to be an active YES Volunteer supporting and mentoring the young generation looking to develop their talents by pursuing a career in Shipping.

Katerina is also a Lecturer on Shipping Finance at the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, a Shipping Finance Trainer with DNVGL and a frequently invited Speaker and Moderator in International Shipping Conferences held in Greece and abroad on Shipping Finance and General Maritime issues.

She holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, majoring in Finance from the University of Maryland, USA.

George Alexandratos , Managing Director – APOLLONIA LINES S.A. & Vice-President  – Hellenic Chamber Of Shipping

Philippos is the Vice-chairman of YoungShip Cyprus (one of the founders) and Board Member of YoungShip International. Being an active citizen, has participated in the formation and running of different national and international organizations holding various positions of responsibilities.
He is currently working for ABB in Switzerland. He has gained international work experience in shipping, real estate and power & energy industries.
He studied Engineering, Law and Business  in United Kingdom, France and Italy.

Local Councilor for Local Growth & Entrepreneurship, Piraeus Municipality Co-Founder Aephoria.net – BlueGrowth Initiative.

As co-founder and impact investor of social enterprises such as organization Earth, an environmental NGO, and Aephoria, a sustainable development startup incubator, Petros Kokkalis is a firm believer of the transformation of local communities through mass resource mobilization. He currently serves as Vice President of the Kokkalis Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is the promotion of a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Southeastern Europe. He also serves as the President of Athens Information Technology, a non-profit technology academic and research institution, and he is president of Athens Tech, a private technology, innovation and entrepreneurship college.  He frequently serves as judge to Greek and international business and startup competitions, mentors young entrepreneurs and also serves on the Endeavor senior advisor network.  Previously, he was the Vice-President and shareholder of Intracom Holdings, one of the largest multinational technology groups in South-Eastern Europe, and the Vice-President and shareholder of Intralot S.A., a gaming technology supplier and lottery licensed operator. He was also the Vice-President of the Greek football club Olympiacos CFP from 1995 to 2008. He is currently  an independent city council member in Piraeus Municipality responsible for European Affairs and the founder of Hope Refugee FC. Hope Refugee FC was established in November 2016 for adult refugees living in Athens. The team participated in an independent league and has played 38 friendly matches with Greek and immigrant teams.

Being passionate about helping startups and entrepreneurs grow, Markos has joined Endeavor to support Small Medium Businesses develop and reach their full potential. At the same time as a Co-Founder of Reload Greece, a London-based organisation aiming to mobilise the diaspora to create new ventures that can have an impact in Greece, Markos has contributed in the inception of over 85 innovative ideas, 14 of which have raised combined funding of £3M and have created 136 new jobs. Prior to Endeavor, he was a Partnership Manager at the MassChallenge accelerator. Earlier in his career, while working at CustomMade.com in the US, he helped the company secure a $2.1M investment from Google Ventures and First Round Capital and contributed in the acquisition of Kopi.co.uk by Cafedirect. Other than startups Markos has worked for MIT University and for big corporates such as Siemens and Expedia. He holds a BSc from Warwick Business School and an MBA from Northeastern University.

Michael Foustanos is Director of the Greek Shipping Miracle (www.greekshippingmiracle.org), the first online maritime museum, established in 2014 in order to raise awareness about shipping and promote its heritage. The project has so far attracted around 100,000 visitors from over 170 countries and continues to grow.

Born in Athens in 1986, Michael has commercial experience in shipping, having previously worked as a shipbroker and research analyst for a London agent representing a shipmanager operating a mixed fleet of tankers, bulk carriers and container ships. He also has seafaring experience onboard an aframax tanker.

Michael has an interdisciplinary academic background comprising an M.A. (Hons) in Economics and an M.Litt. in Art History, both from the University of St Andrews. His M.A. dissertation examined the price determinants of second-hand tankers and bulk carriers during the 2000s shipping market boom using econometric modelling, while his M.Litt. dissertation focused on World War II Greek photography.

He enjoys history, architecture and cinema.

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. He served as Senior Manager in the French bank Credit Lyonnais before established XRTC Business Consultants Ltd. XRTC is acting as Commercial Representative of international banks and institutions in Greek Shipping Market. Since 2010 XRTC has been an advisor of China Development Bank.
George Xiradakis is the President of the Board of Governors of the International Propeller Club of the United States –International Port of Piraeus; General Secretary of the Association of Banking and Shipping Executives of Hellenic Shipping and a BoD member of Paragon Shipping Inc. He is also a Vice President of the Greece- China Association and member of various maritime organizations including The Marine Club of Piraeus, HELMEPA, Mediterranean Committee of China Classification Society and Greece-China Chamber.

Mrs. Athena Kanellatou, Regional Director, MacGregor Mediterranean.

Athena Kanellatou is engaged over two decades in international shipping serving the vision of sustainable operations at sea and cargo flows for a better every day.

She started her career in the MacGregor Group, holding a number of key positions in the Greek entity being CFO, Business Controller, Managing Director and Global Life Cycle Support Sales Manager.

Athena studied Business Management, specialized in Economics, Business Analysis, Controlling and Internal Auditing and

furthered her education in Sales Strategy and in Marine Engineering Management.

During her 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.

In 2018, Mrs. A. Kanellatou took a step further in her career with her nomination as MacGregor Director of Mediterranean Region being responsible for the operations of seven company branches active in Merchant shipping and Offshore business.

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.

Dorothea has a Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University School of Law in New York and a BA from the City University of NY. After relocating to Greece in 1997, Dorothea initially worked in local law firms and was involved in commercial as well as maritime law. In January of 1998, Dorothea entered the marine insurance industry joining Allied Insurance Brokers Ltd. to manage the Marine Insurance Claims Department. In 2005, Dorothea joined SCB (Hellas) Inc., the Piraeus Claims Liaison Office for the Managers of the American P&I Club, (Shipowners Claims Bureau Inc., NY) as a Claims Executive and in 2009 took on the claims management as well as general management of the office. In 2010 she became the first woman to be appointed to the Executive Committee of the N.Y. management company, Shipowners Claims Bureau Inc. In 2013 she became the Regional Business Development Director for Europe Middle East and Africa and since June 2015, she holds the position of Global Business Development Director and now also holds the position of Chief Commercial Officer making her the first woman to occupy a top level global executive position in the history of the American Club and its managers. Dorothea is active in the shipping industry, a frequent speaker at events, a known mentor for young professionals and in 2017 Dorothea was awarded with the Next Generation Shipping Award for 2017 at the Lloyd’s List Global Awards in London. She also served on the Board of WISTA Hellas for four years as Vice President, currently serves as a board member of the Piraeus Marine Club and is a member of the American Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Propeller Club. Most recently she was also appointed as a board member of the American Hellenic Hull Insurance Company, Ltd., a wholly owned hull insurance subsidiary of the American P&I Club.

COSTAS KONTES has been working as a General Manager for V.Ships Greece Ltd. since 2016 while he has been previously serving as Business Development Manager for V. Group since 2008.  He is responsible for the office in Greece and for operating a large fleet of Container and Bulk Carrier vessels.

Previously he has been working for Iberojet Cruceros. Being responsible for the Marine and Technical operations, Costas has set up the operation in Madrid for the company later on to expand from 1 to 3 ships and sold to Costa Crociere.

Other positions held previously were with Martinoli SAM in Monaco following the fleet of the Renaissance Cruises being involved on the successful initial launching of Oceania Cruises, as well as working for Festival Cruises both onboard the ships and on the newbuildings in France.

He has a BSc, MSc in Marine Engineering from Newcastle University Upon Tyne and a MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School. Later additional qualification was the attendance of Seatrade Cruise Masterclass course and the Executive Leadership Development Course designed for V.Group from Strathclyde Business School while holding the title of the Chartered Engineer from the British Engineering Council.

Costas has served 5 years at the International Propeller Club Port of Piraeus as a governor out of which the last two years served as Secretary General and 2^nd Vice President.

Mr. Costis J. Frangoulis is a Greek entrepreneur born in Athens, Greece.

A holder of a B.A from the University of Richmond, U.K in Economics and Business Administration since 1988.

From 1988 till 1990 he served in the Hellenic Navy as a non-commissioned officer.

He is the Founder, President and CEO of Franman Group which he formed in May 1991.Franman is a leading provider of diversified services to the shipping industry.

Over these 3 decades and through a number of companies the Group got involved in the promotion of shipbuilding equipment, spare parts, shiprepairs, shipmanagement, communications,Bunkers,boating and marine equipment, I.T, maritime security ,cyber security and consulting. Currently through 4 companies, Franman today represents 132 corporations promoting their equipment, products and services in Greece and 13 other shipowning nations to over 600 customers.

In year 1996, he formed Imperium Shipmanagement SA which managed and owned 5 handysize bulk carriers. Mr. Frangoulis acted as President & CEO .After  a decade and while the Dry Cargo market was booming, he decided to sell the vessels, in order to take advantage of the extremely high asset values at the time.

Mr. Frangoulis is a Governor of the International Propeller Club of the United States,Port of Piraeus, a member of the Piraeus Marine Club, the Yachting Club of Greece,The Helmepa Organization, The Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a former Board Member of the Make a Wish Greece Foundation and  Executive Vice-President of the Hellenic-Korean Chamber of Commerce.

Wanda Costopoulos is the Managing Director of the family owned shipping company of Arkas Hellas Group, for the last 12 years.

She studied Architectural Lighting in New York and worked as a designer for numerous years before she decided to dedicate herself in the shipping industry.

Mrs. Costopoulos also holds a degree in Human Resources which she exercises in the Group’s companies.

She is a member of WISTA (Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association) and mother of one child.