Andreas A. Tsavliris delivering his speech
The Tsavliris Salvage Group Christmas Season Cocktail Reception last Tuesday at the Britannia Room of the Royal Thames Yacht Club in the heart of Knightsbridge, broke another record, even above that of 2013 – coincidentally a Tuesday, when more than 350 guests enjoyed the first major event of its kind in the administrative capital of shipping, London!
Andreas A. Tsavliris having just greeted Martin Hall and Neil Bailey
Who wasn’t there; all sectors of the world’s shipping cluster where represented; academics, average adjusters, bankers, bunker brokers, charterers, class society executives, diplomats, environmentalists, flag state representatives, government officials, journalists and media consultants, lawyers, barristers and QC’s, marine consultants, P&I Club representatives, risk managers, salvage experts, shipowners and shipmanagers, you name it were there!
Graham Barnes, Lilian Evgenidis and Richard Wilson
We spotted Simon Kverndal QC from Quadrant Chambers, Graham Barnes from BankServe Insurance Services, Martin Hall from Clyde and Co, Tristan Smale from TLT, Toby Stone from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, ITOPF’s Dr. Karen Purnell, former Lloyd’s register CEO Richard Sadler, Tom Boardley, Lloyd’s Register Head of Marine Division, Jonathan Morley too from Lloyd’s Register, Simon Gutteridge from Maritime & Offshore Media, George Mcmenamin from Willis, Dr. Abdul Rahim from ClassNK, Jeremy J. Thomas from the LSLC , Tim Hill QC from Stone Chambers, Tim Fuller from Tindal Riley (Britannia) Ltd, Richard Gunn from Reed Smith and many others.
Dr. Aleka Mandaraka-Sheppard, George A. Tsavliris and Toby Stone
The Greek presence was also felt, as always a very strong presence with Dr. Aleka-Mandraka-Sheppard, the founding director of the London Shipping Law Centre, Stathes Kulukundis from R&K, Prof. Costas Arkoumanis, Ambassador-at-large of the Hellenic Republic with responsibility for energy and new technologies, Valiant’s Nikos A. Vergottis, Zenon Mouskas, Hermes’ Nicholas Skinitis with his wife Peghi, Constantina Mavraki from Noble Europe and Yiannis Chasikos from Atlantis Capital Management…
Costas Amarantidis, director-general of the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee was present too, Angeliki Koutoulia from Commerze Bank in Luxemburg, Niki Tiga from the Shipowners Claims Bureau, Evangelos Panagiotopoulos from Cass Business School, Teekay’s Lilian Evgenidis, Prof. Nikos Nomikos from Cass Business School, Agapi Terzis from the LSLC, Maria Dixon from ISM, Athanassios Malakos just graduated from Cardiff’s University, Paris Mangriotis and Maria Dragoumerli from LOC consultants, Gabriella Elia from Tatham Macinnes LLP, Jean Gowin from Jeanius Consulting and many many others…
Anny J. Zade, Costas Amarantidis, Maria Dixon and Athanassios Malakos
We overheard interesting discussions on the shipping markets, the BDI’s drop being the number one concern, but equally the rise in the freight rates of tankers – dirties in particular, politics with the Migrants and Terrorists issue being top of everybody’s…agenda, the Greek financial trouble and conflicts from Gibraltar to Afghanistan, how safe is the use of LNG as bunkers… A great evening of business networking but entertainment too as the Festive Season is on for yet another month! Excellent drinks and canapés complimented the evening, and as always an event to meet friends from the past!
A full house listening to Andreas A. Tsavliris speech
Our hosts, two of the Tsavliris brothers, Andreas and George with family members and colleagues from the Piraeus and London offices, did, together with the RTYC personnel, their best to entertain us. Milena A. Tsavliris, Mirela A. Tsavliris, Natalia A. Tsavliris, Alexander G. Tsavliris with his wife Eleni, Konstantine G. Tsavliris. There was Lia Panagopoulos, head of marketing and PR from Tsavliris’ Piraeus office, Christina Sakkas, and as always Jan May, the person behind all Tsavliris’ London events!
Andreas A. Tsavliris with his wife Milena, daughter Natalia Tsavliris, Pericles Vassilopoulos and his elder daughter Mariela A. Tsavliris
Andreas A. Tsavliris delivered this years’ annual Christmas speech*, and as you will hear herebelow in the live video, he covered all aspects: the Salvage industry and LOF in particular, the Tsavliris Group successes, world geopolitics, the Greek saga – being optimistic, and some family good news (there is always something in the air from the vast Tsavliris’ family to hear more or less every year!). Tradition and respect too for the Group’s founder, the late Alexandros Tsavliris , an interesting mentioning!
More pictures…
Zenon Mouskas and Gabriella Elia
Tristan Smale, Agapi Terzis and Jeremy J. Thomas
* Some of the main points of Andreas A. Tsavliris’ speech, in case same cannot be heard clearly on the video, are:
- “We had an interesting year. We bought another Tug to operate in the Greek and Mediterranean waters. We carried out about 11 (eleven) salvage operations all over the world. Each case had its difficulties and peculiarities, but we are satisfied with the results.”
- “The importance and value of the LOF and I sincerely hope the Underwriters, P & I Clubs and owners will also realise this and be convinced to support and encourage the use of the LOF because it is without doubt the best contract we have today and we must protect it.”
- “As a result of the difficulties the industry is facing and going through we The many changes the industry is facing, some companies are merging, some joint ventures , some closing down their Salvage operations, and also others thinking of selling… Hope the industry is taking note of this and will take such measures not to let our industry be damaged any further.”
- “We would like to be given more support and encouragement , have less disputes and confrontations and in general show more trust in how the salvor carries out his operations. We should all make a concerted effort to work together in a more positive manner…”
- On the major issue of Piracy: “I am happy to see quite a substantial drop in Piracy activities in the Somalia area and we hope there will also be an improvement in Nigeria.”
- On Greece: “That is quite a complicated political and economic situation not to analyse this evening but we are hoping in time and with a lot of patience and preserving we will see better days ahead. What is happening today is very unfortunate indeed, and the country must fight its way back to a more healthy situation.”
- On the Lloyds List Awards in Greece, which took place four days ago:… “we sponsored once again the Seafarers Award which gives us great pleasure and is always a great honour when you are able to support the seafarers who are the heart and soul of the ships and our companies.”
- On his late father, Alexander Tsavliris: …”we are producing a book in his honour. He would have been 100 years old if he were alive and with us today and we decided to produce a book about 250 pages about his life, his achievements and our families – which hopefully be ready sometime next year…”
- On the company’s history: “.. we are also celebrating 75years since the founding of our Dry Cargo Shipping Company and 50years since the establishment of the Salvage and Towage Company”
- On his daughter Natalia and her engagement to Pericles Panagopulos: “…on a personal note I have a very happy announcement to make, my daughter is engaged to be married. We wish you every happiness, always in good health, long life and many babies…”
- Concluding, he thanked… “ Jan May for organising once again this excellent event and for all your hard work. The same goes for all our staff in Greece, we thank all of you for your hard work, your loyalty for all these years and for standing by us.”
