John Faraclas was there with his camera
With just over 90 members, guests and friends with their families – in all, more than last year, the Hellenic Engineers Society of Great Britain – known as the “Nuts and Bolts” of the Shipping Industry, held its third major event of 2024. This followed the Annual Dinner and Ball last February at the Grosvenor House and the summer BBQ in early July at the Trailfinders Sports Club, Castle Bar, Vallis Way, in London’s West Ealing. There were some absentees due to international travel and an unexpected last minute health issue… The event was sold-out and due to the light rain we couldn’t take advantage of the pavement table area which accommodates another twenty guests and is heated; anyway…
The venue was selected to match the passion Greeks have for good food, service and atmosphere, given that MERAKI – a very unique Greek word, at it best and most understandable translation in English simply means: PASSION. A unique cuisine and a meticulously chosen menu – see picture here below, in an excellent location off Oxford Circus at London’s Rug Trade district – where at my Uni years I had successfully tried my retail and whole sale fashion skills at Mates, convenient for the majority of participants, public transport-wise as well as car-parking-wise, given the road works underway offered free parking, lucky you all who come with your …tracks. Despite the light shower, all was fine.
Richard Martinez was excellently conducting his maître duties with a team of ten well-mannered waiters and waitresses. Good to meet also the proprietor Peter Waney, thank and congratulate him for his place, food and personnel! Thank you Arianne (Mendoza) for welcoming us; great smile! Lastly congrats to Meraki’s event co-ordinator manager Clara-Louise Paul (was there the whole evening!!!!
See the menu and discover what a feast that was like, inviting us automatically for next year or even for us, family and business guests…
The fall in the Shipping Markets – Dry and Wet, the improvement in passage conditions in the Panama Canal, the despicable Ukraine and the Middle East wars including the latest Syrian mess, the Migrants, the Chinese Ship Yi Peng 3 – a bulker and her crew suspected of deliberately dragging anchor for 100 miles to cut Baltic cables, specifically being fibre-optic cables which facilitate trillions of dollars’ worth of financial transactions a day, and the Environment issues, were once again at the forefront of conversations, not to mention the Arts and Global Health issues. Some also discussed the burning issue of what the newly elected US president will do…
HESGB’s president Dimitris N. Monioudis made it again like last year as he had missed a couple of events – Patty Apostolopoulou, Giorgos Foustanos, Alex Xenakis and Evan Zaranis – the last two organised this successful event; Costas Amarantides and Christos Kottas missed the event this year as last year, travelling on business…
We were honored to have Greece’s Defense Attache, Captain (HN) Nikolaos Filias joining us for a drink, but hard luck with our Shipping Attache and other HCG officers due to the forthcoming events at the IMO this coming week including the Bravery Awards tomorrow evening… preparation is more than important for all the crucial issues of the109th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 109).
Capt Haberis was there with the Alex Xenakis’ family, Prof. Evangelos Markopoulos and his wife Olga, the Milissis’ in full force, the Pappas’ – Takis and Christina, the Zarifis’ also in full force, Alexis Zaranis and his wife, Michael Paloumbis and his wife who are always present, Zodiac’s strong team, the ever present James Yin as well as Leon Papazoglou, lawyer Katerina Nomikou, Nicholas Lilis and his wife – staunch supporters as well as Mary Zagoritou, her daughter Apollonia Koukios, Filleria Zymari and many others. Good to see a few newcomers including journalist Marilina Ntaountaki, Dimitris Gkarliaridis and his family –all five who come from Manchester, Theo Ketipidis and his wife from Andros Maritime, Marianthi Koutri from Stephenson Harwood LLP. The females guests made their presence felt!
HESGB covers now all sectors of the Shipping Adventure and “Offshore” Business including, Academia, Arts, Banking, Education, Human Resources, Medical, you name it…
The countdown for the Christmas Festive Season, coincidentally just begun!
We now look forward for the 30th Annual Dinner and Dance on February 22nd 2025 at the Grosvenor House, so ink your diary accordingly! Already a video has been uploaded on social media and us worth watching!
Have a great Month and Festive Season with Good Health above all and lots of smiles; these ingredients lead to business success and wealth!!! Wealth = Plutos. After all, Aristophanes wasn’t wrong…
