News in English

Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards 2024

SOME of the most prestigious and successful names in Greek shipping walked off with major awards at the 21st Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards on the evening of Friday, December 6 – coincidentally St Nicholas’ Day, commemorating the patron saint of seafaring.
Dry bulk carrier owner and operator DryDel Shipping (formerly Meadway Shipping & Trading) was named Dry Cargo Company of the Year while Evangelos Marinakis’ Capital Group scooped the Tanker Company of the Year Award, primarily for its extraordinary investments in an ‘energy-transition’ fleet of gas carriers but also an ambitious construction programme for dual-fuel tankers.
Angelicoussis Group won The Sustainability Award in recognition not only of its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint through building vessels of the latest technology, but also for its gender diversity, education and personnel welfare policies. Star Bulk Carriers won the inaugural Deal of the Year Award for its merger with Eagle Bulk Shipping. The addition of the new ‘Deal of the Year’ has brought the number of competitive award categories to 19.
Personalities winning individual awards were led by Womens’ International Shipping & Trading Association President Elpi Petraki. She was named ‘Greek Shipping Personality of the Year’ for 2024, shortly after accepting the International Personality of the Year Award on behalf of its winner, International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez. Mr Dominguez was unable to attend in person due to a busy week for the IMO in London that centred on the organisation’s Maritime Safety Committee meeting.
Themistocles Vokos, the Chairman of Posidonia Exhibitions and founder of the Seatrade Organisation, was recognised for a remarkable career with the Lloyd’s List / Propeller Club Lifetime Achievement Award.
Goldenport Group Chief Executive John Dragnis was unveiled as ‘Newsmaker of the Year’ after a period of making headlines across the tanker, dry bulk, offshore support vessel, FSRU and superyacht construction sectors. Sifis Vardinoyannis, director of bunkering company Sekavin, won the Next Generation Shipping Award.
With live music from the aptly-named Prestige Band, a popular Athens-based band that expanded for the evening into a six-piece with the addition of bass and saxophone, the event entertained an international audience of about 1,100 guests. But – as it has done throughout its two decades of history - the world’s biggest shipping awards event proved to be a platform that reflected and engaged with serious and urgent issues, too.
Accomplished young sailor Amalia Provelengiou won a special Woman of the Sea Award. As stated in the citation for the award, courage and determination are traditionally characteristics of a good sailor but Ms Provelengiou also exemplified these qualities in successfully bringing Greece’s first “MeToo” case against the sailing coach who had abused her. The Award was an expression of solidarity from Greece’s shipping industry at a time when many Greek shipping companies are attracting more women officers and more women are eyeing a maritime career. Ms Provelengiou’s story provides the basis of a brand new documentary film, ‘Tack’, directed by Vania Turner and produced by Onassis Culture. The ‘Person of the Sea Award’ is a rarely-given special award that is then personalised as either ‘Man of the Sea’ or ‘Woman of the Sea’ depending on the recipient.

The Safety Award went to EUNAVFOR Operation Aspides, the EU’s maritime security operation shielding shipping from attacks by the rebel Houthi faction in Yemen. The operation, which is of geopolitical as well as humanitarian importance, is under the leadership of Greece and headquartered in Larissa.

As ‘Ship of the Year’, the judging panel chose the FSRU “Alexandroupolis”, the converted LNG carrier that is at the heart of Gastrade’s LNG terminal in the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis.

The Passenger Line of the Year Award was won by Variety Cruises, a Greece-based family-run boutique cruise operation that has celebrated its 75th year in 2024. In contrast to the megaships dominating today’s cruise industry, it offers life-enriching, human scale cruises that focus on respect and discovery of the cultures visited by their ships, providing travelers with authentic experiences that reflect cultural and ecological sustainability and inclusiveness, leaving a minimal footprint behind.

A highlight of the awards ceremony was the presentation of the Award for Achievement in Education or Training to the Tsakos Merchant Marine Academy, recently opened in Chios under the auspices of the Maria Tsakos Public Benefit Foundation – International Centre for Maritime Research and Tradition. The award was accepted personally by Captain Panagiotis Tsakos whose vision and determination was fulfilled by establishing what is the first non-state and non-profit academy in Greece.

Several other important awards recognised excellence and value in Greece’s maritime cluster. Neptune Maritime Leasing was voted ‘Shipping Financier of the Year’, while dry bulk chartering specialist Diamond Shipbroking was named ‘Shipbroker of the Year’.

YES Forum, a platform for connecting high-school and university students with the shipping and sea tourism industries, won the Piraeus International Centre Award. The Marine Technical Managers Association, better known as Martecma, was presented with the Technical Achievement Award. The Lloyd’s List Intelligence Big Data Award was won by Harbor Lab.

Captain Michalis Lignos and Captain Stamatis Kalfamanolis, master and reserve master of Blue Star Ferries’ ro-ro passenger ferry Blue Star Paros, were honoured as Seafarer of the Year for outstanding conduct on the night of September 18 this year in rescuing six passengers from a speedboat taking on water off the island of Paros. The rescue was completed just seconds before the small craft sank.
In a welcome address, the Minister of Shipping & Island Policy Christos Stylianides offered his congratulations to the nominees as well as the winners of the 2024 Awards. “The Lloyd's List Greek Shipping Awards are a leading institution that recognises and rewards the excellence, innovation and contribution of all those who have made Greek shipping a world-leader,” he said.
Neptune Maritime Leasing was the overall lead sponsor of the Greek Shipping Awards once again.
Guests enjoyed a pre-dinner drinks reception hosted by Allegiant (Shipping) while CMB Financial Leasing offered the traditional champagne toast to the health of Greek shipping.
A donation from proceeds of the event went to ‘Argo’, the charity supporting children with disabilities in the families of Greek seafarers. The donation was kindly presented to Argo by Ilias Bolis, director at Allied Shipbroking, which also sponsored the Gallery of Winners, an entrance chamber chronicling past honorees of the event launched in 2004.
The annual awards recognise achievement and meritorious activity in the Greek shipping industry and promote Greece as a maritime centre. Winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges representing a broad cross-section of the Greek shipping industry.
The Greek Shipping Awards thanked all the Greek and international sponsors of the prestigious event, many of which have loyally supported the Awards for many years. This year saw the IRI / The Marshall Islands Registry complete 10 years of support for the event, a milestone recognised in the form of an honorary statuette presented to the sponsor.

WINNERS AT-A-GLANCE
Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards 2024

Dry Cargo Company of the Year
DryDel Shipping

Tanker Company of the Year
Capital Group

Passenger Line of the Year
Variety Cruises

Shipbroker of the Year
Diamond Shipbroking

Shipping Financier of the Year
Neptune Maritime Leasing

Technical Achievement Award
Martecma

Lloyd’s List Intelligence Big Data Award
Harbor Lab

Piraeus International Centre Award
YES Forum

The Safety Award
EUNAVFOR Operation Aspides

International Personality of the Year
Arsenio Dominguez

Achievement in Education or Training
Tsakos Merchant Marine Academy

Seafarer of the Year
Capt. Stamatis Kalfamanolis & Capt. Michael Lignos

Ship of the Year
FSRU “Alexandroupolis"

The Sustainability Award
Angelicoussis Group

Woman of the Sea
Amalia Provelengiou

Deal of the Year
Star Bulk Carriers

Next Generation Shipping Award
Sifis Vardinoyannis

Lloyd’s List/Propeller Club Lifetime Achievement Award
Themistocles Vokos

Greek Shipping Newsmaker of the Year
John Dragnis

Greek Shipping Personality of the Year
Elpi Petraki