The brilliant event for AMVER 2016 and the Celebration of 80 years of Propeller Club in Greece!

The Board of Governors with USA’s Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic H.E. Geoffrey R. Pyatt

On Monday, October 31^st, 2016, the annual AMVER Awards Ceremony of the International Propeller Club of the United States, International Port of Piraeus, was celebrated with great success, this year combined with the Piraeus Propeller Club’s 80^th Anniversary, the venue being the Intercontinental Hotel of Athens, Greece.

The event took place under the auspices of the U.S Embassy in Athens, the Greek Ministry of Marine and Island Policy, the Union of Greek Shipowners and the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping. The event was attended by distinguished guests, led by the US Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Geoffrey R. Pyatt and his wife Mary, the Vice Admiral of the U.S Coast Guard and Deputy Commandant for the operation of USCG-American Coast Guard Mr. Charles W. Ray and the Greek Minister of Shipping and Island Policy Mr. Theodoros Dritsas. The event was also attended by the General Secretary of the Greek Ministry of Shipping and Island Policy Mr. Ioannis Theotokas, the Chief of the Greek Coast Guard Vice Admiral Mr. Stamatios Raptis and the Deputy Chiefs of the Coast Guard, Vice-Admiral Mr. Theodoros Kliaris and Coast Guard Admiral Mr. Georgios Mparkatsas, the former Minister and Member of Parliament from the New Democracy party, Mr. Simos Kedikoglou, the President of the Union of Greek Shipowners Mr. Theodore Veniamis, the President of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, Mr. Giorgios Pateras, the President of HELMEPA Mr. George Gratsos, the General Manager of the International Propeller Club, Mr. Andrew Reister, Mrs. Eirini Ntaifa the Chairman of the Marine Club, Mr. Petros Kokkalis, Piraeus Deputy Mayor, Mr. Theodore Kontes, the Chairman of the Shipowners Cruise Ships, Mr. Anthony Stelliatos, the President of the Union of  Greek pleasure yachts, Mr. Charalambos Simantonis, the President of Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners Association, Mr. Nikolaos Vougioukas, the Chairman of the Banking and Ship Finance Committee, Mr. Ioannis Kotzias, the President of the Hellenic Shipbrokers, Ms. Angie Hartmann, the President of the WISTA Hellas, Mr. Stavros Hatzakos, CEO of Piraeus Port, Mr. Simos Anastasopoulos, the President of the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Alexander Papadogkonas, the President of the Yacht Club of Greece, as well as prominent members of the Union of Greek Shipowners and numerous other representatives from shipping companies and several embassies in Athens.

Dr. Konstantinos Rokkos and Zoe Lappa-Papamatthaiou

The President of the PCP, Mr. George Xiradakis welcomed hundreds of guests and said that the attendance of so many people causes euphoria perfectly reflecting the rays of the Propeller Club into society. He welcomed the U.S Ambassador as well and officially announced the taking of his office as honorary Chairman of the Piraeus Propeller Club wishing him good luck in his new duties, quoting the words of Henry Ford, which essentially describe the secret of success of the Propeller Club of Piraeus in the eighty years of its life: “Coming together is the beginning, continuing together is progress, working together is success”.

Mr. Xiradakis also congratulated the shipping companies that participate in the AMVER program, noting that this major part of Greek Shipping, proudly maintains the Greek vessels & Greek flag at the highest level of the global shipping industry, evidencing its major devotion of social responsibility to the global community through saving lives and property at sea.

The U.S. Ambassador in Greece Mr. Geoffrey R. Pyatt in his maiden speech in front of the members of the Propeller Club and generally the Greek shipping family, praised the role of the Club as an aid to the development of human and business relations in the world and especially to the maintenance and development of the relationship between Greece –US. He welcomed the Greek Minister of Shipping to the event and he referred enthusiastically to his desire for good faith and constructive cooperation with the Greek Government during his term of office in our country, in order to further develop the Greek-American relationship. “The biggest challenge currently for the relationship between our Countries is the preparation of the historical visit of the US President during November”.

The Greek Minister of Shipping in his speech congratulated the organizers for the excellent event. He assured the new Ambassador of the United States about his desire and that of his colleagues to continue the constructive cooperation of maintain a relationship between the two countries. He congratulated the companies which were awarded for their participation in the AMVER Rescue Network and he expressed his satisfaction to them for keeping the characteristic of Greek shipping unaltered through their continuous social contribution.

Vice Admiral Charles W. Ray with Zoe Lappa-Papamatthaiou

Mr. Charles W. Ray, the Vice Admiral of the US Coast Guard addressed greetings to the large audience and stressed the importance of saving lives at sea and of course everywhere else. He congratulated the Greek Shipping industry for its participation in the AMVER Network while he spoke with great words about the constant struggle of the Greek Coast Guard, especially nowadays where a dangerous wave of mass emigration is taking place. Mr. Ray congratulated the Propeller Club Port of Piraeus for the event.

The meaning of this year’s Awards was depicted by the special Rescue Awards, which were presented to five companies, by the Vice President of Southern Europe and North Africa of the International Propeller Club, Dr. Konstantinos Rokkos.

The vessels honored for rescue operations were:

• The M/V KAVALA SEAS of All Seas Marine S.A. for rescuing seven shipwrecked people, including a child, near the area of Bolinao, Pangasinan in October 2015.
• The M/T CAPTAIN JOHN of Consolidated Marine Management Inc. for rescuing nine people, 237 nautical miles from La Reunion Island in March 2016.
• The MSC AZOV of Costamare Shipping CO. S.A, which delivered and rescued a seafarer near Cape Town in May 2016.
• The M/V ODYSSEAS L of Kyla Shipping Enterprises Corp. for rescuing two people, 200 nautical miles from Nantucket, Massachusetts in June 2015
• The LPG CARRIER “COUGAR” of Dorian LPG for performing a Search and Rescue operation in the Pacific Ocean near Honolulu in October 2016.

Also awarded was Mr. Panos Moraitis, Founder of ERCI – Emergency Response Centre International and CEO of ASPIDA for the valuable assistance provided to the human treatment of refugees. The ERCI has faced many difficult rescues, the work continues with the refugees coming to Greece through the voluntary work program.

The Secretary General, Mr. Costas Th. Kontes stressed before the award ceremony 1685 vessels from 212 Shipping Companies that: “This year’s AMVER revealed the perpetual dedication of Greek Shipping in life rescue at sea and the full support of the Greek seafarers to human beings distressed at sea, he highlighted the altruism and the unparalleled solidarity that characterizes the people of the shipping industry worldwide”.

The first fifteen companies out of a total of 170 that awarded were:

A special moment of the evening was the Special Award prize “Champions reward the Champions” to the President of the Greek Olympic Committee Mr. Spyros Kapralos, who inspired and implemented the program “Adopt an athlete on the road to Rio,” which was intended to find sponsorship for the participation of athletes in the Olympic games in Rio.

Harris Petrakakos, Simos Kedikoglou, Zoe Lappa-Papamatthaiou, Dr. Konstantinos Rokkos and Dimitri Vassilakos

The emotional presence of Gold medalist in Still Rings Lefteris Petrounias, the presence of Olympic medalists in Sailing, Panagiotis Mantis and Pavlos Kagialis, the Chief of the National Team in Water Polo Christos Afroudakis, the World Champions in swimming Kelly Araouzou and at pole vault, Kostis Filippides, as well as coaches Nikos Gemelos and Dimitris Gemelos, to Olympic Champions, spread a wave of euphoria and emotions amongst the attendees. Τhe presence of Olympic Athletes who honored the President of the Greek Olympic Committee Mr. Spyros Kapralos, was momentous, same by recognizing his personal contribution and the continuous effort, which aimed to the excellent presence of the Greek Olympic Mission in the Rio Games. The Propeller Club awarded for the creation of such fundraising, Mr. Kapralos. Our Olympic Athletes were given a special recognition plaque for their contribution to the international recognition of our country.

The Governor and Chairwoman of the Fundraising Committee of the Propeller Club, Mrs. Zoe Lappa-Papamatthaiou referred to the importance of the social contribution in these difficult times and emphasized the profound will of the Club to invite all the members and friends to continue to support the Propeller Club.

Τhe celebration for the 80 years of the Propeller Club Port of Piraeus was emotional. The President and the members of the BOG welcomed the former Presidents of the International Propeller Club Mr. Giorgos Besis, Mr. Savvas Kalafatidis, Mr. Giorgos Dalakouras, Mr. Argyris Skondras, Mr. Vlassis Karatzos, Mr. Nikos Tsavliris, Mr. Marios Kyriakou, and Mr. Anthony Stamos Faraklas, on stage, all together with the Ambassador of the U.S in Greece Mr. Geoffrey Pyatt and the Vice-Admiral of the US Coast Guard, Mr. Charles Ray, blowing the candles.

More than 900 guests from the shipping, business and political world attended this wonderful evening. The entertainment part of the event was taken over by the Philharmonic Coast Guard, and the leading guitarist Panagiotis Margaris with the singer Eleanna Finokalioti.

From the Board of Directors of the Piraeus Propeller Club attended: the President Mr. George Xiradakis, the 1^st Vice President Mr. Dimitrios J. Fafalios, the 2^nd Vice President Mr. Dimitrios Patrikios, the Secretary General and Chairman of the Membership Committee Mr. Costas Th. Kontes, the Treasurer Mr. Dimitris Vassilacos, the Chairman of the Maritime Committee Mr. Konstantinos Rokkos, also Vice President of Southern Europe and North Africa of the International Propeller Club, the Chairman of the Administrative Committee, Mr. Costas Constantinou, the Chairwoman of the Fundraising Committee, Mrs. Zoe Lappa-Papamatthaiou, and the members of the BOG Mr. Michalis Dalakouras, Mr. John Belousis, Mr. George Skordias, Mr. Markos Tripolitis, Mrs. Despoina Foros-Tsirozidis and Mr. Grigorios Timagenis.