The Bayes Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance marked its 40 anniversary by hosting the 5th Athens Triennial Meeting
Global business leaders, diplomats, policymakers and senior academics gathered this month for the 5th Athens Triennial Meeting.
The meeting was held at the Onassis Stegi and organised by the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance at Bayes Business School, City St George’s, University of London in co-operation with the Onassis Foundation.
This year the Triennial Meeting was combined with the 40th anniversary of the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance at Bayes. More than 1,000 delegates gathered to hear 90 distinguished speakers – most of whom are graduates of the Centre.
The event focused on “Industry challenges: A global perspective from Athens.”
Presentations covered:
- The world economy
- Investments: trends and challenges
- Climate change and shipping: decarbonisation and adaptation
- Innovation and technology: shipping and energy industries
- Tanker market
- Dry market
- Energy transition: trends and challenges
- Shipping finance: banks and capital markets.
The 3-day event concluded with a celebratory session for the 40th anniversary of the centre.
Professor Costas Th Grammenos CBE DSc, Chairman of the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance, and Triennial Founder, welcomed delegates and thanked sponsors and colleagues for bringing the meeting together.
“I am especially pleased to welcome our valued alumni, many of them speaking on our panels, and friends of the centre to the 5th Athens Triennial Meeting. The centre has a network of more than 4400 alumni and alumnae from over 160 countries and we are very proud of them and their achievements.
“I take the opportunity to thank the sponsors and friends of this meeting: Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd, EZA Hellenic Breweries of Atalanti, Goldman Sachs, and of course our co-organiser and lead sponsor, the Onassis Foundation; to thank all Centre staff, in particular, Kristie Loutsiou for her hard work and commitment in bringing this meeting to fruition.”
“Everything we achieved was based on new ideas, hard work, very hard work, dedication, friendship and trust. We have applied all the way the principle of meritocracy, a principle that is an axiom in our School, in our University and the City of London.”
Delegates also heard opening remarks from Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein, President of City St George’s, University of London, and Professor André Spicer, Dean of Bayes Business School.
Sir Anthony said “Shipping must constantly adapt to new challenges, from geopolitical tensions and evolving trade regulations to technological disruptions and sustainability imperatives. Bayes Business School, as part of City St George’s, University of London, has long held a close relationship with the maritime sector, underscored by the Costas Grammenos Centre.
“Our commitment to business excellence, research and thought leadership is reflected in the work of this centre, that has pioneered global understanding in the fields of shipping, trade and finance for four decades.”
Professor Andre Spicer, Dean of Bayes Business School, said: “The Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping Trade and Finance has been at the forefront of preparing the next generation of leaders in the shipping sector for 40 years. Today we do this by giving them the skills to develop strategic vision, understand complex and changing environment, work across silos and execute strategy in an agile way.”
Dr Anthony S. Papadimitriou, President of the Onassis Foundation mentioned “Professor Grammenos’ achievements are not limited to founding a center and a new academic topic. It is not limited to fostering such a large number of eminent and successful students. Keeping this community together is unique. As President of the Onassis Foundation, we are proud to be associated with the Center and through it with City University.”
The first day welcome speech was delivered by Matthew Lodge, His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic, who said:
“Forty years of the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance is a wonderful and remarkable landmark. Συγχαρητήρια και Χρόνια Πολλά. And looking forward, I hope we can all take a lesson from the collaboration, sharing of expertise and partnership that has been central to that success.
“Governments and the shipping industry need to understand one another better, and to cooperate more effectively and ultimately to work together, if we are going to ensure that we can overcome those challenges and succeed in the next 40 years as we have in the last 40.”
Ms Melina Travlos, President of the Union of Greek Shipowners and Chair of the Board of Neptune Group of Companies, Greece, said: “Shipping unites people, societies and economies under any circumstances. Everyone, leaders and citizens alike, must embrace this key attribute of shipping. They must make this truth their own. Shipping’s invisible role must constantly become clearer and more visible.
“We, as shipping people, need to realise this necessity, to work and cooperate in this direction, always respecting the values and virtues of our industry.
“The excellence, the meritocracy and the extroversion, as Professor Costas Grammenos has characteristically mentioned”.
During the talk, Ms Travlos presented a video on “Shipping moves the world.” This can be viewed online at:
GR – https://youtu.be/eUn6k8s1A54?si=a7hI0Nh9eftl0jmI
ENG – https://youtu.be/32m6RKBfsPI?si=WpVEMllJfO6Q3J-C
The final day concluded with a celebratory session for the 40th anniversary of the Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance. Dr Anthony S. Papadimitriou, President of the Onassis Foundation, Mr Themistocles Vokos, Honorary Chairman of Posidonia Events and Captain Panagiotis Tsakos, founder of the Tsakos Group, congratulated Professor Grammenos for his great achievements during these 40 years.
Professor Grammenos (pictured above), presented to the audience the 40-year journey, from 1984 to 2024, in which Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach, Professor Martin Stopford, The Hon Mr Apurv Bagri and Lord Sterling of Plaistow appeared with a short message each celebrating 40 years of the Centre.
The Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance at Bayes
The Centre for Shipping Trade and Finance at Bayes Business School was established by Professor Costas Th Grammenos CBE DSc in 1983 and launched in 1984 by the then Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe at major gathering at the Baltic Exchange. In April 2007, the Centre was renamed by the University in honour of its founder.
The Centre is a global hub and the first to introduce inter-relationships between shipping, energy, trade and finance. The Centre provides pioneering postgraduate teaching, combining theory and practice, in Shipping, Energy, Trade and Finance, offering the first specialist MSc degrees in these disciplines.
The Centre was created to provide excellence in teaching, excellence in research and excellence in dialogue. Through this unique blend, the Centre has gained international recognition.
The Centre has more than 4400 graduates from over 160 countries, has more than 150 publications (leading peer-reviewed academic journals and books) and hosted over 500 seminars, lectures, presentations amongst which over 35 mega international meetings in London, Athens and elsewhere.
Sponsors and friends of the event included: Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd, EZA Hellenic Breweries of Atalanti, Goldman Sachs and co-organiser and lead sponsor, the Onassis Foundation.
The Athens Triennial Meeting 2024
The Athens Triennial meeting was established in 2007 with the objective of bringing together world class business leaders, policy-makers and academics to discuss and debate international issues of wider importance to the business, shipping, energy, trade and finance community.
The full schedule of the three-day event can be found online.
