The 22nd Annual Meeting of the Hellenic, Black Sea and Adriatic Zone Committee of Bureau Veritas, hosted by the Vice President of the Hellenic, Black Sea and Adriatic Zone, Mrs. Paillette Palaiologou, was held on the 17th of May 2019 under the Chairmanship of Mr. George Procopiou and the presence of the Bureau Veritas Top Management, Mr. Didier Michaud-Daniel, CEO Bureau Veritas and Mr. Matthieu De Tugny, President Marine & Offshore Division.
This year the Committee took place in the beautiful surroundings of Elounda on the island of Crete.
Following the welcome and adoption of the agenda by the Committee’s Chairman, Mr. George Procopiou, a distinguished colleague of shipping, Mr. George N. Moundreas of NGM Energy S.A., was introduced as new member.
Mr. Didier Michaud-Daniel opened the round of presentations with a detailed review of the latest initiatives and results of Bureau Veritas Group, describing the Group’s activities and the benefits of breadth of activity across BV’s operations – Building & Infrastructure, Certification, Agrifood & Commodities, Consumer Products and Industry. Subsequently, Mr Matthieu De-Tugny delivered a detailed presentation about Marine & Offshore, focusing on the evolving and changing landscape in the field of Classification.
Mr. Jean- François Segretain, Technical Director M&O Division Bureau Veritas, presented a detailed overview of Bureau Veritas’ latest technological advances and capabilities in Shipping, while Mr. Andre Urstad, Partner in Maritime Analytics in his turn presented the latest market trends of the Dry Bulk Market, providing information rearding the different sub-categories of the Dry Sector.
The presentation by Dr. John Kokarakis, Technology & Business Development Director HBSA Zone Bureau Veritas, focused on decarburization and the future of Shipping as it will be shaped following the environmental regulations that will be put in force on 01 January 2020. He pointed out the different emerging fuel options of the future, with their advantages and disadvantages, stressing out that the question: “What is the most efficient fuel of the future for Shipping” does not have one single answer, but rather it depends on the type of vessel, its size and the type of cargo, remaining both a commercial and a technical decision.
Mrs. Ioanna Procopiou, Chief Executive Officer of Sea Traders / Prominence Maritime, made an insightful presentation on slow-steaming as the most efficient, environmental-friendly and easy-to-implement solution to the problem of decarburization.
The presentation of Mr. Bill Stamatopoulos, Business Development Manager SE Europe-Marine Fuel Services, focused on the insights of VeriFuel on IMO 2020 environmental regulations, while Mrs Armelle Breneol, EAME Marine Fuels Technical Advisor EXXON MOBIL analyzed the immediate future for marine fuels.
Finally, Ms Eleni Letoni, Communications Sales & Marketing Coordinator Greece, Cyprus & Malta Bureau Veritas, made a brief presentation about the roots of Greek Shipping in Crete.
The meeting was concluded with the traditional heated discussion between the members on topics of evolving interest, and the social time during the lunch at the beautiful resort.
As Mr Didier Michaud-Daniel stated: “Bureau Veritas now has more than 75.000 employees all over the world out of which 15.000 employees in China, but despite its diversification, Shipping is in our DNA and ship classification is and shall remain a fundamental pillar of BV’s activities and culture”.
During the Committee meeting, the members’ spouses had the opportunity to participate in a very interesting excursion to Plaka and Spinalonga Island.
