The 16th Maritime Conference co-organized by the newspaper Maritime Economies and the company UPoilTankers & Trading Ltd on Wednesday 10/1/2024, entitled
Navigating the Future of Shipping under the New Geopolitical Era
The Impact of Geo-economics, AI and ETS on Seaborne Trade and Shipping Finance Appetite
The conference was attended by 495 people who were divided according to their interests in the 4 Sessions of the Conference, while 27 distinguished speakers from different countries participated.
The conference was welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Shipping of Greece, I. Pappas and the Secretary General of the Deputy Ministry of Shipping of the Cypriot Government, Stelios Chimonas, who in their speech referred to current issues such as the geostrategic developments in the Middle East and the terrorist attacks of the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea and maritime cooperation relations between Greece and Cyprus. Mrs. Oikonomou, responsible for port infrastructures of the New Republic, also addressed a greeting.
Keynote speaker of the conference, capt. Dimitrios Matthaiou, managing director of Arcadia Shipmanagement & Aegean Bulk, president of Ahepa chapter St Nicholas and the Green Award Foundation.
Mr. Matthaiou referred to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and the effects on shipping of these developments. As he said, these attacks affect 10% of the world's maritime trade that is transported through the Red Sea and, combined with the Russia-Ukraine war, result in increased insurance premiums, delayed deliveries, disruption of supply chains and increased prices of food products and raw materials.
He focused on the controversial issue of Decarbonization in Shipping and the need to find sustainable solutions for a smooth energy transition, while highlighting with examples how Artificial Intelligence and the advancement of Technology are affecting the shipping industry for the better.
The 1st panel discussion included the following speakers: Alexandra Gana Director of Gana Shipping, Spyros Capralos Chairman of the Board of Directors of Starbulk, Valentios Valentis CEO of Pyxis Maritime Corp and Konstantinos Rokkos Chairman & CEO TST International SA & Regional Vice President International Propeller Club of US and Vangelis Hadjiyiannis from GMS.
The discussion highlighted how geopolitical developments have created new roads and sea routes, while at the same time the opportunity for maritime transport to gain more from the increase in demand in ton miles.
2nd discussion panel: George Xiradakis Senior Maritime & Investment Banker Founder of XRTC Business Consultants, Katerina Stathopoulou Executive Director, Investments & Finance Ltd, Pinelopi Kassani Partner – Governance RIsk and Assurance MOORE Greece, Vassilis Mantzavinos Member of the board of Neptune Leasing, Kostas Oikonomou Deputy General Manager.
The discussion highlighted the change in the way shipping financing is approved, through the ESG framework and especially the connection between financing and green shipping.
3rd panel: Theodore Chouliaras, CEO of UPoilTankers & Trading, Ioannis Patiniotis Finance Director at Carras (Hellas) SA, Panagiotis Gavalas, Director of Operations at IQ Solutions, Spyros Goumas, CEO SQLearn, Mike Konstantinidis, Managing Director, Vessel Optimization at ZeroNorth.
The discussion highlighted the need to modernize the Maritime's technological systems, the importance of applying artificial intelligence and solving issues such as Cyber security.
4th panel: Helena Athoussaki Chief Sustainability Officer Motor Oil Group, Nikolaos Liapis Energy and Business Consultant – Managing Partner at ActoNonVerba, Goerge Margetis, CEO Margetis Maritime Consulting, John Kokarakis Technology & Business Development Director SE Europe Black Sea & Adriatic Zone Bureau Veritas, Antonis Trakakis Technical Director at RINA.
The discussion focused on the need for decarbonization and compliance with the rules of the new environmental regulations. Alternative fuels and to what extent they are the solution, as well as a debate on whether the application of Scrabers in 2020 was also an important topic of this panel discussion.
Many thanks for the support of our sponsors ARCADIA Shipmanagement, UPOIL Tankers & Trading, PALAU International Ship Registry, LIBERIAN Registry, BUREAU VERITAS, MARINE TOURS, PYLI NET, MARGETIS MARITIME, GMS, Paper Entry, PRO.EX., KATRADIS Group, COSMOS Nautical Training Centre, GM, MESPAS, Varnas Naval Academy, AQUA MARINE Electronics, Aegean College, GNOMON Informatics, COIL, IQ Solutions, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF GREECE, NAFTOSOL, FURUNO, DROMEAS, RAINBOW WATERS, KAFO, TSIATSIOS, FREDDOPOLITAN & IMES.
