ΔΙΔΑΚΤΙΚΟ ΠΡΟΣΩΠΙΚΟ

Bitounis Constantinos, FICS

He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1999 and is a member of the honorable society of Lincoln’s Inn. In 2000, having completed an LL.M. at UCL with Merit, he began practicing Shipping and Commercial law at Shaw-Lloyd & Co in the City of London, initially as a consultant and since April 2004 as a Solicitor. In 2004 he also joined the Athens Bar Association. In 2006, he became head of the legal department of IMS S.A. in Piraeus until the end of 2009. In 2010, he founded the Law Office of Bitounis & Co in Athens, Greece specializing in International Shipping and Commercial law litigation and arbitration.

Since January 2015 he has joined the Solicitor firm “Waterson Hicks”, managing the Piraeus based office of the firm. “Waterson Hicks” is a London Solicitor firm that is well established in the handling of Shipping and Commercial litigation/arbitration.

Constantinos Bitounis joined HFW in April 2019 as a Senior Associate in the litigation team of the firm’s Piraeus office. He has extensive experience in handling a wide range of shipping disputes, both Dry and Admiralty, with a keen commercially minded approach.

He became fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers in September 2009 and teaches Legal Principles in Shipping Business and Shipping Law at HMC / ICS Greek Branch.

Neil Davidson

Neil Davidson has over 30 years’ experience in the port sector, retiring in 2020 and retaining an interest in, and passion for the sector.

A graduate in International Transport from the Department of Maritime Studies, Cardiff University, his initial industry experience included working for Lloyd’s of London and the Medway Ports Authority, Sheerness, UK. He then spent 8 years with the Port of Tilbury, London, specialising in market research and business planning. He was closely involved in the successful management buy-out of the port in 1992 and its subsequent trade sale to Forth Ports plc in 1995. He also gained freeport status for the port, acting as Freeport Manager for 2 years.

He joined Drewry Shipping Consultants in 1997 and founded the company’s ports practice, contributing to both single-client consultancy work and publications through to 2020. His consultancy experience included participation in port projects in locations including Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. This covered assignments such as market studies, traffic and revenue forecasting, privatizations, strategic analyses and M&A due diligence. He was author and editor for Drewry’s port publications, and has spoken at numerous industry conferences and seminars worldwide, as well as lecturing students.

Andrew Francis

Andrew Francis is a professional in ports operations and development with an experience of over 35 years. Experienced in operations delivery, business leadership and transformation, and most recently, in the Corporate Human Resources function of a global leader in port operations and trade facilitation. Has worked globally, including Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan), Asia (India, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Kazakhstan) Africa (South Africa, Mozambique, Egypt, Djibouti, Algeria) Europe, Australia, and the Caribbean. Andrew has been a Container Terminal Manager at Port of Bristol and Port of Liverpool. Then, he joined P&O Ferries North Sea, responsible for safe and efficient operation of 4 passenger and freight Ro-Ro terminals. He was responsible for safe and efficient operation of 4 passenger and freight Ro-Ro terminals. He implemented major cost-saving initiatives and projects including implementation of trans-lifter / cassette system, dynamic labour rostering, terminal layout changes and rationalization of passenger terminals. He was responsible for vessel deployment – 4 x Ro-Pax vessels plus 5 x freight vessels, in liaison with Fleet Dept. on port services, safety management and incident management system. Andrew, then, worked for DP World as Head of Global Operational training and Development and as Director at DP World Institute. He was responsible for the management and delivery of all DP World Institute programmes and training solutions globally, as well as the leadership of all terminal business and operational initiatives. This role involved a high degree of integration and cooperation with the Talent Management team, Regional and Business Unit leaders, ensuring integrated use of resources to meet Corporate Human Capital objectives globally, and aligning L&D solutions to position-based competency standards and business needs.
Now Andrew is working independently, on short, medium and longer-term global projects, advising and supporting related organisations in the development of people, resources and business activities in the ports, maritime and logistics sectors.
He holds a higher Diploma in Marine Engineering from Glasgow Nautical College and MBA from University of Wales.

Dr Konstantinos Galanis, MICS

Dr. Galanis has 27 years of professional experience and is currently Director of Operations at Dido Shipping Co SA. He is a Commander (ret.) of the Hellenic Navy, Educational Counselor and member of Impact & Crashworthiness Lab for MIT and Founder of Shipping for Kids. He is also the Chairman of the International Ship Recycling Association.

Ηolds three graduate degrees from MIT, namely MSc in Ocean Systems Management, Naval Engineer and PhD in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering and Applied Mechanics (the first non-American active duty Officer to receive such title in the history of MIT). He has taught for several years courses related to Naval Architecture & Marine Hydrodynamics. He is a member of ABS European Technical Committee and ClassNK Greek Technical Committee. He has published several papers at International Journals, Conferences and events and has written several technical reports, projects and a book.

He is Lecturer at ICS Greek Branch/ HMC teaching Economics of Sea Transport & International Trade.

Cpt. Andreas Georgiou, FICS

Capt. Andreas upon graduating Leonteio Lykeio Patission, attended the Hellenic Merchant Marine Academy earning his officer’s commission and his Bachelor in Nautical Science. He served on board Bulk Carriers, RoRos and Cruisers as well as in various Navy units as a Naval Officer covering a number of different duties. He started his career ashore as an operator of handy bulk carriers at ADRIATICO Ltd. and quickly added chartering in his activities. After several years with Eurochart SA as a chartering manager and Ursa Shipbrokers in the same position, and after a couple of years as Managing Director at Grace Trading Corporation LLC, he is now the Managing Director of GREGALE (DRY BULK) SHIPPING, a company that operates Dry Cargo Vessels using own contracts and market cargoes. He holds an MSc in Marine IT applications and an MSc in International Relations. Among other academic publications in various subjects shipping and non shipping related, he has also published two papers on correlation of the BDI with other economic figures.

He is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and a lecturer in Dry Cargo Chartering, Ship Operations & Management and Port Agency at HMC/ICS Greek Branch.

George D. Gourdomichalis, FICS

George D. Gourdomichalis was born in 1967 in London. Following his graduation from Athens College, he studied at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, obtaining a BA in International Economics and a BA in Political Sciences. He also earned an MSc in Ocean Marine Transportation Management from the State University of New York Maritime College.

In 1989 he joined Republic National Bank of New York as a management trainee and worked on their trading floor. In 1992 he joined S.S. Maritime Inc. of New York, where he worked as a chartering and S&P broker. He then became a partner and was responsible for the commercial management of Baltmed Shipping Co. Upon his return to Greece in 1996, he co-founded Gourdomichalis Naftiki Eteria S.A. In 2000 he co-founded Free Ships S.A. and in 2003 he co-founded Free Bulkers S.A. The merging of the two companies in 2005 led to the public listing of FreeSeas Inc. on the NASDAQ Exchange. In January 2007 he sold his shares in FreeSeas and went on to establish G. Bros. Maritime S.A.

He is Chairman and CEO of Blue Wall Shipping Limited and President and Managing Director of Phoenix Shipping & Trading S.A. He serves on the Hellenic Committee of the Italian Register (RINA); he is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the American P&I Club, a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping; member of the Board of Directors of the Piraeus Marine Club; a member of the Baltic Exchange and Intercargo; a member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and lecturer at the HMC / ICS Greek Branch.

Kallini Angeliki

Angeliki Kallini has been an Average Adjuster with Richards Hogg Lindley (RHL) since 2008 and has spent time working in RHL’s London office. She qualified as an Associate of the Association of Average Adjusters in 2010 and as a Senior Associate in 2015 when she became the Manager of RHL’s Piraeus office. She has previously worked for a year in a shipping company and in the corporate shipping department of a law firm in Greece. She has a bachelor degree in Maritime Studies from the University of Piraeus and an LLM in Maritime Law from the University of Southampton.

She teaches Marine Insurance and Claims Handling at HMC/ICS Greek Branch.

Elina Kassotaki, FICS

Elina is in shipping since 2007 with Holland Hellenic Shipping Agencies (HHSA), a leading shipping agency in Piraeus, where she is business development manager and chartering broker. Before entering shipping, she was in the corporate tourism sector for about ten years. She is a member of the ICS since 2014, a Fellow since 2019 and a member of the Training and Education Committee. She teaches Port Agency at the ICS Greek branch since 2019. Elina is Vice President at WISTA Hellas and a substitute member of the BoD at the International Maritime Union Greece. She holds a BA in International & European studies, a bachelor’s in business administration and hospitality management, an MA in international law & diplomatic studies and the ICS professional qualification.

Cpt. Ioannis Kehagias, FICS

Mr. Kehagias has over 40 years involvement in the shipping industry, having first gone to sea in 1974. He graduated the Marine Academy of Oinoussae in 1976 and after six years of sea service and a course in Shipping at the London School of Foreign Trade, he joined a London shipping company as operator and then as Operations Manager. After 17 years in London, he moved to Piraeus and established White Sea Navigation in 1998, where he is currently CEO. The company operates in the Supramax segment of the bulk-carrier market.

He is a member of the Greek Committee of Class NK, the Greek Committee of Korean Register and the Safety & Loss Committee of The Standard P&I Club”. Mr. Kehagias is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers since 1985 and is lecturer of Ship Operations and Management at HMC / ICS Greek Branch.

Dr Konstantinos Kofopoulos

Konstantinos is an Associate in HFW’s Piraeus office and acts principally for owners, charterers and P&I Clubs on both contentious and non-contentious dry shipping matters. His work spans a variety of disputes such as charterparty, bill of lading, FD&D and marine insurance coverage disputes in commercial London arbitration and High Court proceedings.

Prior to joining HFW, Konstantinos gained experience working as an associate for another international law firm in Piraeus on English dry and wet maritime disputes, and has previously also worked as a claims handler and consultant in England and overseas.

Konstantinos holds an LL.B. from the University of Athens, an LL.M. on English maritime law from the University of Southampton, and a Ph.D. on English marine insurance law from the University of Southampton.

He is qualified in Greece, and in England & Wales.

George Lambrou, MICS

George is a Maritime Arbitrator and Consultant Solicitor Advocate (England & Wales) at Keystone Law, London. His focus is on insurance, energy and maritime dispute resolution where he has over 16 years of practical experience.

He is also the Co-Director of Training at the European Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators where is a Fellow (FCIArb). He is a Supporting Member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA) and is regularly appointed as an LMAA arbitrator in maritime disputes.

George is one of only very few non-Russian international dispute resolution specialists who speaks Russian fluently and has extensive commercial and legal experience in Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Turkey, and Central Asia. He is also a fluent Greek speaker.  He has degrees from the University of Chicago, Boston College and an LLM in Maritime and International Arbitration law from Queen Mary, University of London.

He is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and teaches Legal Principles in Shipping and Shipping Law at the ICS Greek Branch/HMC.

Harris Loukopoulos

Harris Loukopoulos holds substantial expertise in all fields of maritime and corporate law, having acted since 1996 as General Councel for prominent shipping companies and dealt with complex maritime and corporate issues, both transactional as well as litigation. He has extensive commercial expertise in shipmanagement, voyage and time charters, sale and purchase transactions and the financing markets. He has been instrumental in the public listing (IPOs) of shipping companies in the US and in Singapore and has strong expertise in structured and project finance transactions and M&As. He has been involved in cross border insolvency and restructuring proceedings in the US, England and Greece, as well as variou shipping, marine insurance and corporate law disputes that have led to court litigation or out of court settlements. He is both litigation and trasaction oreiented and has a sharp business acumen giving him the ability to offer wide range commercial minded solutons.

Harris holds a Law Degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Masters Degree in Shipping Law (LLM) from the University of Southampton. He is fluent in Greek, English and French. He teaches Legal Principles in Shipping Business and Shipping Law at HMC/ ICS Greek Branch.

GEORGE MARGARITOPOULOS

George is Associate Director at Richards Hogg Lindley (RHL) Piraeus and has also spent time working in RHL’s London office. He is qualified as a Fellow of the Association of Average Adjusters. He has previously worked as a spares and shipyards broker and also as a chartering broker. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management & Technology from the University of Piraeus and an MSc in Marine Policy from Cardiff University.

Tony Mason, FICS

Tony Mason has worked in the shipping industry for over 40 years with extensive experience in the liner business, as well as representing the industry in its relations with international government bodies, the press, and the public at large. He spent 32 years working in many different functions for container shipping companies, culminating in the role of Director, Corporate Strategy, at P and ONedlloyd, prior the acquisition of the company by Maersk in 2005. From 2006 to 2010, he was Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping, representing shipowners globally on a wide range of subjects including technical, safety and environmental standards, employment issues,
and promoting the image and reputation of the industry. Since 2010, he has been working with Drewry Shipping Consultants as an Associate, on advisory projects in liner shipping, ports and terminals, and logistics businesses. He is also Secretary of the International Support Vessel Owners’ Association, an international trade association for ship owners operating support vessels in the offshore energy industry. He is a tutor and examiner for the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. Tony graduated from University College Oxford with a degree in Chemistry and holds a Certified Diploma in Accounting and Finance. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

CONSTANTINE ORPHANOS

A graduate of Boston University in Political Science and International Economics with over 35 years’ experience in the Financial Advisory, Banking and International Shipping.

Upon graduation entered the U.S. Armed Forces as an officer in the United States Army. Once being honorably discharged obtained further and specialized finance and investment education, working with internationally recognized financial institutions in New York; providing investment advisory services and sales of investment products.

A native of Athens, Greece since 2004, has engaged in the International Shipping sector with renowned ship brokerage firms, developing substantial experience in Sale and Purchase and shipping projects across all varieties of ship types: dry, wet and special project business.

Currently Director of Sale & Purchase / Projects department at Oceanus Tankers LTD.
Lecturing focus is Introduction to Shipping, Shipping Business and Sale & Purchase at HMC/ICS Piraeus, Greece Βranch.

Menelaos Pangalos, MICS

Close to thirty years of experience in the shipping industry with particular emphasis on the management and operation of dry bulk carriers.   Seventeen years as a Superintendent Engineer at Chios Navigation Co Ltd in London and ten years as Managing Director at Chios Navigation (Hellas) Ltd in Piraeus.  He holds a BSc (Hons) in Marine Engineering from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and an MSc in Shipping, Trade and Finance from Cass Business School, City University.

He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, the Baltic Exchange and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology. He teaches Ship Operations and Management at HMC/ICS Greek Branch.

Paraskevas G. Kousounadis, FCCA, FICS

Mr. Paraskevas Kousounadis is a Chartered Certified Accountant with extensive shipping experience in accounting and finance. He is  presently employed as a Finance Manager by a long-established Greek ship management company. He holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Accounting, as well as in Biomedical Sciences. He is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), the FCCA Greek Advisory Committee, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Greece, the Economic Chamber of Greece and the Shipping Professional Network of London. He is also a Certified Internal Auditor ISM-ISPS-MLC for Shipping Companies by DNV-GL. He has excellent knowledge of financial and accounting procedures, as well as a thorough understanding of financial audit and internal control systems both ashore and onboard.

Rizopoulos Stathis

Stathis Rizopoulos is currently Chartering Manager at Gourdomichalis Maritime since 2020, managing vessels across the Panamax and Supramax space. Prior to that, he was a Freight Trader at Cargill Geneva for 6 years on the Supramax Chartering Desk, FFA Trading Desk and Market Risk Desk. He started his career in Boston at Veson Nautical: Commercial Freight Management Platform, building up the Trading and Business Intelligence software products. His education was completed with distinction in Mathematics and Economics at the University of Warwick and a Master’s of Finance at the M.I.T.

Simiakaki Georgia, FICS

Georgia Simiakaki is an Attorney-at-Law and has been a member of the Piraeus Bar Association since 2007. She currently works for VC Marine Claims Adjusters and Consultants Ltd. Her area of expertise is mainly Marine Insurance, Maritime Law, Corporate and Commercial Law.

She holds a law degree from Athens Law School and an LLM in Maritime Law from the Law School of City University London, on full scholarship.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of the Chartered Shipbrokers, an Associate of the Association of Average Adjusters and a Certified Insurance (Re) Intermediary.

She lectures in Shipping Law, Marine Insurance and Legal Principles of Shipping Business at HMC/ICS Greek Branch.

 

Katerina Stathopoulou, FICS

Katerina has a long working experience in managerial positions in the fields of Shipping, Banking and Finance. She is co-Principal Organizer of the ESG Shipping Awards platform and holds the position of Executive Director with Investments & Finance Ltd. The company is a financial consultancy firm dedicated in providing financial and investment banking advisory services to shipping and corporate clients. Katerina’s career in shipping and finance started in 1986 with Athenian Sea Carriers, one of the traditional and prestigious Greek shipping Groups, and continued into Banking as Head of Shipping Finance for two Greek private Banks, responsible for setting up and developing their shipping loan portfolios. She also held the position of Credit Committee member of these banks.

Katerina is a Jury Expert with the European Commission on Blue Economy and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. She is also Governor of The International Propeller Club of the United States, Port of Piraeus, Mentor and Clinical Professor on the MSc in Shipping Management program of the University of Piraeus, Lecturer on Shipping Finance at the Greek Branch of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and DNV Trainer.

Panagiotis Taglis

Panagiotis Taglis commenced his career in chartering in 1994 and has been a Chartering Manager at Eletson Corporation since 1999.  With an overall professional experience of 20 years within a major Greek Tanker and LPG Carrier Owner, he is versatile and knowledgeable in both oil and gas chartering, as well as operations and demurrage/claims.

Mr. Taglis holds a Master’s in Marine Policy from University of Wales, Cardiff, a diploma in Port and Shipping Administration from University of Wales and a diploma in Management Studies from Polytechnic of Wales. He has attended various seminars and courses on Tanker Chartering, Shipping Derivatives, etc.

He teaches Tanker Chartering at HMC/ICS Greek Branch.

Eva Tzima

Ms. Eva Tzima is currently the Head of Research & Valuations at Seaborne Shipbrokers S.A., a position she holds in the shipbroking industry since 2012. Her work has been focusing on the analysis of the Commodity, Freight, SnP, Newbuilding and Demolition markets, while she has also been cooperating with several European banks and Chinese leasing houses, providing them ship valuations. From mid-2009 until mid-2012 she was based in both London and Athens, managing a privately owned portfolio that invested in derivatives and stocks of energy and shipping companies. Prior to that, she worked for five and a half years at Trafalgar Asset Managers in London, focusing on private equity projects in the energy, shipping, and aviation sectors as well as in distressed debt investments. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Business Administration from the American College of Greece and an MSc in Risk Management & Insurance from the Cass Business School in London.

Amalia Miliou-Theocharaki, FICS

Amalia started her shipping career in 2009 as a dry freight & commodities analyst at ICAP Shipping in London. She moved on to become a competitive shipbroker in London and Singapore until 2013. Thereafter she worked at the freight trading department of commodity giant Bunge S.A in Geneva until 2015. Since then, Amalia has been the chartering & sales and purchase manager at TEO Shipping Corporation, a ship management family business operating in the dry bulk market.  Amalia holds a B.Sc. first class honors degree in Economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) & a distinction M.A. in International Trade, Commodity Finance & Shipping from the University of Geneva. She also holds an Ad. Dip. in teaching children with learning difficulties.

Amalia is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and Dry Cargo Chartering lecturer of HMC/ICS Greek Branch.

Simon Ward, FICS

Simon started his career at a ship-owning company in Liverpool. He became a Ship Sale & Purchase broker, also in Liverpool, in 1993 before moving to London in 1997. In 2008 he moved to Greece to open and run HSBC Shipping Services Ltd in Piraeus. Despite moving back to London at the end of 2012, he returned to Greece in 2013 to open a new Sale & Purchase joint venture in Piraeus with Ursa Shipbrokers, reaffirming his longstanding commitment to the Greek shipping industry.

A Member of the ICS since 1995, he was accepted as a Fellow in 2009. He is a member of the Institute’s Education and Training Committee.

He teaches Introduction to Shipping, Shipping Business, Economics of Sea Transport and Ship Sale & Purchase at HMC/ICS Greek Branch. He is also a guest lecturer at the University of Piraeus, Athens University of Economics and Business, Alba and other Universities and Educational Institutions both in Greece and abroad.

Wooldridge Adrian

Mr. Adrian Wooldridge commenced his career in tanker shipping in 1989 at Ceres Hellenic Shipping (G.P.Livanos) and has been Chief Commercial Officer of Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation since 2010. Before joining Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation, Mr. Wooldridge worked for 8 years at various divisions of Shell Trading where he most recently served as Freight Trading Manager for Shell Western Supply & Trading Ltd. in Barbados with overall responsibility for crude and refined petroleum products’ freight trading.

Mr. Wooldridge holds a Master’s in Business Administration with distinction from Warwick Business School in the UK and in 2018 he completed a Graduate Diploma in Law.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and teaches Tanker Chartering at HMC/ICS Greek Branch.