Greece News

Greek Firms Partner to Launch Online Training for the Shipping Industry

SQLearn and Moore Greece have teamed up to create online training programs in a wide range of subjects related to administration, financial management and regulatory compliance of shipping companies.SQLearn, a Greek company located in Piraeus, is a specialized provider of e-learning services dedicated to improving safety for the shipping industry by using e-learning for the advancement of maritime training with flexible, interactive and reflective learning techniques.Moore Greece…

Shipbuilding: FSG Expands Management Team

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) is expanding its management team further: in April, Carsten Treuer starts as Head of Operations and Bernd Liedtke as Head of Sales.“I am very much looking forward to working with these two shipbuilding specialists,” says Philipp Maracke, CEO of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, about the expansion of his team. “Our common goal is, on the one hand, to align production even more specifically with the requirements of our portfolio in the future.

AXESS Networks Creates Commercial Maritime Business Unit

AXESS Networks (AXESS) has created a new business unit: AXESS Networks Maritime; a specialized business unit established to respond to the growing and sophisticated demands within the maritime sector.“The maritime business initiative is a major step within AXESS’ growth and diversification strategy,” said Guido Neumann, President AXESS EMEA and Chief Development Officer AXESS. “AXESS will present tailored connectivity solutions to the commercial shipping and yachting markets, whilst focusing on their specific requirements.

Greece Launches Sale of Crete Port Stake

Greece on Monday launched a tender for the sale of a majority stake in a port on the island of Crete, a popular tourist destination in Europe.The conservative government has been keen to attract investment and upgrade its port facilities across the country after years of underspending and a decade-long financial crisis.Investors can submit expressions of interest for a 67% stake in the port of Heraklion, the busiest on Crete, by July 30, the country's privatization agency, which is managing the sale…

Greensteam Acquires Assets of Enerforce

GreenSteam Vessel Optimization Ltd., developers of vessel performance optimisation solutions for a sustainable shipping industry, has acquired the assets of Greece-based maritime software specialist Enerforce Solutions and Consulting Ltd to diversify and enhance its product offering driven by Liberty, the most advanced noon reporting validation system. The current office of Enerforce will become GreenSteam’s offices in Piraeus, Greece.The Liberty platform acts as a central repository…

Kingdon Tapped to Rep Isle of Man Ship Registry in China

The Isle of Man Ship Registry (IOMSR) has appointed Jonathan Kingdon as its first permanent representative in China.A well-known naval architect, experienced newbuilding project manager and Mandarin speaker, Kingdon has taken up the post from his base in Shanghai where he also heads up the Asia operation of IDWAL, a marine inspection and project management firm. He will join the Isle of Man Ship Registry’s network of overseas representatives in Greece, Japan and Singapore.Isle…

Drew Marine Launches Cargo Hold Solutions Lineup

Maritime servies firm Drew Marine announced it will launch a new cargo hold solution product segment, and that Alexandros Strigkos has been named as the Global Market Manager of the product segment.With its recent acquisition of CHEMO Hellas, a Greece-based company, Drew Marine added a number of products, including notably its cargo hold cleaning chemistry and related equipment.Strigkos had long been an important part of CHEMO’s cargo hold business. He has expertise in the technology…

ShipMoney Continues to Grow, Announces New Hires

Maritime Payment Solutions, LLC (d/b/a ShipMoney), a provider of payment solutions for maritime companies, announced two new hires. Vanessa Torres has joined as Strategic Client and Business Development Manager in Manila, and Theo Tsokos is the Client Account Manager in Athens.Torres will be responsible for managing clients in the Philippines and Southeast Asia, including Maersk and V. Ships, among others. With more than 20 years of professional experience, she will act as liaison…

Phantom Buyers in Russia, Advice from Iran Help Venezuela Skirt Sanctions

On Aug. 21, a tanker called the Otoman docked at the Jose oil terminal on Venezuela’s coast in the Caribbean to load 1.82 million barrels of heavy crude, according to the state oil company’s internal documents.Yet no tanker with that name is registered in major global shipping databases.Muddying the situation further, the unique identifier for the Otoman listed in the documents - a number used by the International Maritime Organization to identify ships - was assigned to another tanker called the Rubyni, according to the databases.The Rubyni was broken up two years ago, they record.

Greece Gets Strong Interest for Igoumenitsa Port

Greece on Friday received nine non-binding bids for a 67% stake in Igoumenitsa port, its privatization agency said on Friday.Bids were submitted by Aegean Oil, Attica Holdings and a consortium of Archirodon Group and ANEK & Trident Hellas Group.The other bidders were a consortium of Grimaldi Euromed and Minoan Lines, Danthia Shipping, MRG Ltd, Portek International, Quintana Infrastructure and Thessaloniki Port Authority , the agency said.The deadline for bidding expired at 1500 GMT on Friday.Greece embarked on an ambitious privatization plan in 2010, at the start of a decade-long financial cri

Lomar Promotes Georgiou to CEO

Nicholas Georgiou has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer of ship owning and management business Lomar, its parent company the Libra Group announced. Georgiou has been Lomar’s Chief Operating Officer since 2010 and succeeds Achim Boehme, who passed away from cancer in July.George Logothetis, Chairman and CEO of the Libra Group, says, “This announcement has long been in our succession planning, with Achim due to have become Chairman of Lomar. Achim’s tragic passing left us with a huge void but also a tremendous legacy…

Greece Gets Five Initial Bids for Kavala Port Terminal

Greece has received five non-binding bids to operate part of a port in northern city of Kavala, the country's privatization agency (HRADF) said on Friday.HRADF received expressions of interest for a sub-concession to operate a multipurpose terminal of Philippos II port, currently operated by Kavala Port Authority.The initial bidders are a consortium of IMERYS SA, Goldair Cargo and I.M.G., and the International Port Investments Kavala consortium, which includes Black Summit Financial Group, EFA Group and GEK TERNA.

Hill Dickinson Managing Partner Patrick Hawkins Dead at 59

International maritime law specialist Hill Dickinson announced the death of Patrick Hawkins, head of its office in Greece.Hawkins died in the hospital on August 20, having suffered a heart attack in early July. His funeral took place in Athens on Monday.Announcing his death, David Wareing and Tony Goldsmith, heads of Hill Dickinson’s Marine and Trade Group, said, “It is with enormous sadness that we have to inform you of the passing of our much loved colleague Patrick Hawkins.

Containerships Sent to Tripoli to Maintain Lebanon Supply Lines

Leading container lines are diverting ships to Lebanon's smaller terminal of Tripoli after the devastating explosion at Beirut's port that killed 145 people also paralysed vital trade.Lebanon, which imports almost all it uses, relies on container ships to bring in everything from refrigerated food cargoes to clothing and other consumer goods.There is no firm date for Beirut port to re-open, and this is a strain on supply chains.Data from shipping intelligence platform MarineTraffic showed three container ships had arrived in Tripoli in the past 24 hours after being diverted from Beirut…

C-Job Naval Architects to Open Poland Office

The Netherlands based ship design and engineering company C-Job Naval Architects said it will open an office in Gdansk, Poland this July.The Gdansk office will pursue new markets particularly in the Baltic and Scandinavian region, with a particular focus on functional and detail design as well as retrofits and laser scanning, the company said. The new office will be spearheaded by general manager Slawomir Graban.C-Job currently has seven offices worldwide with its headquarters on the outskirts of Amsterdam.

Posidonia 2020 Canceled

Another major maritime trade fair has been called off due to health concerns and travel challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Posidonia 2020, originally planned for June 2020 and subsequently postponed to October 2020, has been canceled."We have reached this difficult decision following close consultation with many exhibitors and with our shipping community stakeholders, after assessing the current state of COVID-19 in countries around the world," the event's organizers…

Governments Pledge Crew Change Action

A dozen countries have have committed to facilitate crew changes and achieve key worker designation for seafarers, following a virtual ministerial summit hosted by the U.K. government on Thursday, marking progress to help resolve a growing crisis facing the maritime industry, and enable hundreds of thousands of stranded seafarers to go home or join ships.“The inability of ship operators worldwide to conduct ship’s crew changes is the single most pressing maritime operational challenge to the safe and efficient movement of global trade…

Tankers Carrying Venezuelan Oil Stuck at Sea

Tankers carrying nearly two months worth of Venezuelan oil output are stuck at sea as global refiners shun the nation’s crude to avoid falling foul of U.S. sanctions, according to industry sources, PDVSA documents and shipping data.Washington is tightening sanctions to cut Venezuela’s oil exports and deprive the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro of its main source of revenue.The OPEC member’s exports are hovering near their lowest levels in more than 70 years and the economy has collapsed, but Maduro has held on - to the frustration of the administration of U.S.

Doyle Hired to Lead the Port of Baltimore

William P. Doyle, a former U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner, has been hired to lead the Port of Baltimore as the new executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced.Currently CEO and Executive Director of the Dredging Contractors of America, Doyle will take the helm at the Port of Baltimore effective July 22, succeeding Jim White, who announced he would step down at the end of 2019. Doyle was appointed by Secretary of the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Greg Slater…

Opinion: Government Intervention Needed to Keep Shipping, Energy Businesses Moving

In times of crisis sometimes the easiest response is to be heads-down. One of the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic that history will look back on as key to the resilience of people and commerce, has been cooperation. As a specialist travel management company (TMC), it is a privilege for ATPI Marine & Energy to be part of unprecedented collaboration in the shipping and energy industries.Right now, these sectors are joining forces in ways never seen before to ensure that ships can sail, rigs can operate and people can be relieved and get home safely.

Nautilus Labs, Oceanking Announce Partnership

Nautilus Labs and Oceanking announced a partnership to jointly expand access to Nautilus in the Greek and Cypriot market to support ship owners and operators. Nautilus serves the global maritime industry by building decision support software that surfaces smart alerts and actionable insights that maximize voyage profitability and vessel yield. Oceanking is based in Greece and provides integrated, technical services and solutions. It will represent Nautilus in the Greek market and connect ship owners/operators and the technology firm.

LNG Carrier Delivered to Nakilat

Qatari shipping company Nakilat took delivery of a newbuild liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Global Energy. Built by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), the vessel will be managed in-house by Nakilat and is the first of four LNG carrier newbuilds to be delivered to Global Shipping Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Nakilat (60%) and Greece-based Maran Ventures Inc. (40%). The delivery of all four newbuilds by end-2021 will bring Nakilat’s fleet to 74 LNG carriers…

Greece to Sell Majority Stakes in Four Ports

Greece plans to sell majority stakes in four ports as part of a privatization plan agreed with its lenders after the country exited the bailouts in 2018, a document of its privatization agency (HRADF) showed on Tuesday.HRADF will sell majority stakes in the share capital of Alexandroupolis, Igoumenitsa, Heraklion and Volos ports, the agency said in an invitation to hire financial advisers for the sales released on this website.China's COSCO has bought a 51% stake in Piraeus Port, the country's biggest, in 2016.

USCG Advises on Minimizing Novel Coronavirus at Sea

The Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy has published an update March 16, 2020 to MSIB: Novel Coronavirus – Update (Change 2)An outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) may affect mariners and maritime commerce. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated their Interim Guidance for Ships on Managing Suspected Coronavirus Disease 2019 (see https://go.usa.gov/xdfyG) and Cruise Ship Travel (see https://go.usa.gov/xdfVP).Illness…

Posidonia Rescheduled to October 2020

This morning it was announced that the Posidonia 2020 exhibition, scheduled from June 1-5, 2020 in Athens, Greece, has been rescheduled to October 26-30, 2020.

Greece to Quarantine all Arrivals from Abroad

Greece announced on Monday it will shut all shops apart from supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, petrol stations and food delivery services, and put anyone arriving from abroad into quarantine for two weeks, to fight the coronavirus.Greece had already cancelled mass gatherings and closed bars, restaurants, playgrounds and gyms. So far the country has reported 331 confirmed cases of infections and four fatalities. Health authorities expect the number of infections to rise.The 14 day quarantine would apply to anyone entering the country…