EVENT
11th Annual forum ICS Greek Branch
«View from the bridge: Shipping faces cloudy horizons» In an extremely well-organized event, the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, Greek Branch held its 11th Annual Forum, on Wednesday, 2nd December 2015, at the Eugenides Foundation. The title was: «View from the bridge: Shipping faces cloudy horizons» and the Forum was well attended by over 400 shipping professionals – from the Greek and International shipping community - covering all spectrums of the industry. Eminent personalities constituted the panel: Natalia Margioli-Komninou, FICS, Managing Director of the ICS Greek Branch and Hellenic Management Centre Leoni das Demetriades – Eugeni des, Chairman, Niver Lines Shipping Co S.A. George Gourdomichalis, Managing Director, Phoenix Shipping & Trading S.A. Vassilis Mantzavinos, General Manager, UniCredit Bank A.G. (Greece) Manos Lorentzos, Managing Director, Seascope Hellas, Chairman, Hellenic Committee of Lloyd's Brokers Associates Susan Oatway , FICS, Lead Analyst, Drewry Maritime Research Lars Juul Jorgensen, Managing Director, Lorentzen & Stemoco (Athens) Ltd Simon Ward, FICS, Director, S&P, Ursa Shipbrokers S.A. Vasilis Chakos, FICS, of V. Chakos & Co. Marine Claims Adjusters & Consultants was the panel moderator. Natalia Margioli - Komninou, in her welcome address, opening the 11th Annual Forum of the Institute of the Chartered Shipbrokers, Greek Branch, highlighted the need for well-qualified and well-trained professionals, equipped to counter economic, operational and structural challenges
that the shipping market is facing. The continual rise in numbers of ICS students and members suggests that professional qualifications are even more important today, as both companies and professionals are preparing themselves for when the market turns. She went on to mention that, the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers excelled once again this year and won the BIMCO Education and Training Award 2015, in recognition of its investment in new learning, growth in students and graduate numbers and innovative teaching techniques. She also mentioned that ICS Greek Branch is once again the largest examination centre in the world with candidates that excelled in their exams and achieved important awards. Finally, she promised that there is more to come, mentioning the Hellenic Management Centre’s prestigious collaboration with Queen Mary University of London to offer the LLM in International Shipping Law (Piraeus, Greece), which was successfully launched this year. Nicolas Tsavliris, the Chairman of the ICS Greek Branch and of the Tsavliris Salvage Group unfortunately could not attend this year as his business commitments have taken him to the U.S., but he addressed the Forum with his welcoming note on video. The International Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, Michael Taliotis, FICS addressed a warm welcome to the attendees of the Forum. Mentioning the ever falling indices and pessimistic forecasts of the current shipping market, he expressed the opinion that the rise in numbers of ICS is one of the positive things in the industry. He made a reference to the specific figures as well as the BIMCO Education & Training award 2015. He congratulated the ICS Greek branch on its accomplishments, focusing on the impressive growth numbers, students’ success and distinctions and surpassing London for the 2nd time in terms of student numbers. He then underlined that ICS is internationally the most recognised body offering such qualifications for more than 100 years, through an examination process, that proves that its members can meet high standards of education. But it is not only education. ICS Bye Laws are based on ethics. With the motto ‘our word is our bond’ ICS does not only equip shipping practi-