For the 16th year in a row, NAVIGATOR SHIPPING CONSULTANTS organized its annual esteemed event, “The Shipping Decision Makers Forum”.
The Forum was held on Friday, 4 November 2016 at Divani Apollon Palace and was attended by 500 personalities of the Greek Shipping Community. Mrs. Danae Bezantakou, Managing Director of NAVIGATOR SHIPPING CONSULTANTS, welcomed the participants, presented the company and highlighted that we should all stop making crisis a brand and focus on the opportunities it brings.
Capt. Dimitris Bezantakos, President of NAVIGATOR SHIPPING CONSULTANTS, welcomed the forum’s delegates and introduced them to this year’s topics of discussion. Through his address, Capt. Dimitris Bezantakos, invited us all to stop being pessimistic and urged each one of us, from our own area of expertise and position in the industry, to put in the effort to maintain Hellenic Shipping strong and when compared to its global counterparts, first in capacity, first in number of vessels, first in S&P, first in the Tanker market, first in the Bulkers market and first in the value of its fleet. 
Aristotelis Conference Room
Mrs. Eva Kaili, Member of the European Parliament and Mr. Mitiadis Varvitsiotis, Former Minister of the Hellenic Ministry of Shipping and the Aegean, gave the opening addresses of the Forum.
Piraeus was the Honoured Place of focus in the NAVIGATOR FORUM 2016 and the Councillor for local economic growth & entrepreneurship of Piraeus Municipality, Mr. Petros Kokkalis referred to the port’s high significance, from its vast maritime history to the set plans of its transformation into the largest port of the Mediterranean Sea.
As the unique Platinum sponsor of the forum, the Managing Director of MacGregor Greece Ltd., Mrs. Athena Kanellatou, had the opportunity to present the company and the solutions MacGregor offers to a wide range of maritime transports.
The first panel: “Ports as an Economic Aspect & Market Analysis” was moderated by Mr. George Xiradakis, Managing Director – XRTC Business Consultants Ltd and President – THE PROPELLER CLUB (Port of Piraeus). In the panel participated Mrs. Katerina Stathopoulou, Executive Director – INVESTMENTS & FINANCE, Mrs. Vera Alexandropoulou, Legal Department – Piraeus Port Authority Mr. Javier López, Commercial Manager – Algeciras Port Authority and Mr. Apostolos Kamarinakis, Civil Engineer – Rtd. VADM HELLENIC COAST GUARD & Former CEO HELLENIC PORT DEVELOPMENT CENTER.
Mrs. Vera Alexandropoulou gave an informative presentation on Piraeus port’s current activities and its many business development prospects emerging from its privatization and scheduled future investments. In addition, she made a strong point on how the Greek and Mediterranean macro recovery will provide impetus to trade flows from Piraeus port.
Mr. Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Former-Minister of the Hellenic Ministry of Shipping and the Aegean
During the panel’s discussion the importance of having, both internal and external, port competition was highlighted with regards to its contribution to the growth of a port. The panelists emphasized the need for hinterland when an increase in trade flow results in positive spillovers for the local, national and international economy. Finally, significant notice was given to the importance of a given port’s geostrategic position by Mrs. Vera Alexandropoulou and Mr. Javier Lopez.
Mrs. Danae Bezantakou presented the Before-and-After video of the 1st Young Executives Shipping Forum that took place during the Posidonia Exhibition 2016.
The discussion of the 2016 “Foreign Ambassadors panel”, was titled “Ports in an International Perspective”. The discussion was moderated by Mr. François Lafond, President of Blue Networks and Opportunities (Paris) with the participation of H.E. Luigi Marras, Ambassador of Italy in Greece, H.E. Younghip Ahn, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Greece and H.E. Frank Geerkens, Port Ambassador of Antwerp Port Authority in Belgium.
The issues were proposed to the Ambassadors which shaped the presentations and the discussion that followed. The first obvious element was the key role ports play as gateways for the increasing maritime transport despite the current gloomy situation.
Mr. Mauro Renaldi , Honorary Consul of Italy in Piraeus & Capt. Dimitris Bezantakos, President, NAVIGATOR SHIPPING CONSULTANTS
The second element focused on a port’s importance and its direct link in the economic development of areas, territories and regions. How private and public authorities should invest and coordinate their financial involvement? Considering the potential impacts on the jobs and on the economic growth, what management bodies and administrative structures should lead these long term investment in the port regions in close cooperation with the national government? How will these investments, private, state or local aids, be used and under what conditions? The recent report from the European Court of Auditors, released in September 2016, on “Maritime transport in the EU: in troubled waters – much ineffective and unsustainable investment” was mentioned by the moderator in the discussion.
The third aspect of the discussion focused on the security dimension of the ports. Increasing trade activities also means -potentialy- more trafficking, counterfeiting products, frauds and possible illegal migrations. What specific controls have to be carried out by the authorities and under which processes, were some of the keypoints that were dscussed during the panel.
A year after his passing and in memory of Capt. Alekos Stellatos , we commemorated his life by viewing a video montage of his life onboard.
The 3rd panel: “Smart & Green maritime Technology: Where we are now, and what’s next?” was moderated by Mrs. Helena Athoussaki, Head of Maritime Sustainability Centre – PwC and comprised of Mr. George Christopoulos, Vice Admiral of Hellenic Navy (Rtd) Marine Operations LAROS – Prisma Electronics, Mr. Khalid Talukder, Chief Revenue Officer – TRAMONEX, DIABOS’ Cash Management Partner, Mr. Konstantinos Stampedakis, General Director – ERMA FIRST ESK Engineering Solutions S.A, Mr. Frank Paleokrassas, Corporate Manager – Fleet Performance – BERNHARD SCHULTE SHIPMANAGEMENT (HELLAS) SPLLC.
The technical panel addressed the opportunities and challenges arising in shipping from applying smart and green technology. The panel also commented with high skepticism on the latest developments in environmental regulations as to whether their actual implementation can be done on a timely and effective manner. All the panellists stressed the importance of having smart technology embedded in shipping operations and examined how the smart green shipping model can improve operational efficiency, safety, personnel and logistics.
Mrs. Athena Kanellatou, Managing Director, MACGREGOR GREECE & Mrs. Danae Bezantakou, Managing Director, NAVIGATOR SHIPPING CONSULTANTS
The dialogue continued with the audience’s participation questioning the crew capability to handle the use of further on board technology. The panel then emphasized that the technology should be mainly handled from on shore personnel.
The panel recognized that the main threat of having smart shipping is the mentality of the shipping sector. The discussion became quite heated when a panelist stressed that the journey towards a greater digitalization era has already started and the shipping industry must act quickly in order to be sustainable, keeping in mind that big international companies failed because they could not adapt quickly to advances on existing technology (Kodak, Nokia etc). Finally they all agreed that big data and analytics will play a critical role in shaping the future of shipping.
After the completion of the three panel sessions, in the conclusive part of Navigator 2016, Mrs. Danae Bezantakou announced the lucky delegates that won Travel Gifts offered by airline companies and well- known hotels for the Forum’s annual Lottery.
We thank everyone that helped this Forum to take place and we are looking forward to welcoming you in the 17th NAVIGATOR 2017 – The Shipping Decision Makers Forum.
