The 2nd Summer School ‘‘Shipping in Action’’, organized by HMC/ICS Greek Branch & Alba Graduate Business School, was successfully completed!

Hellenic Management Centre/ICS Greek Branch and Alba successfully organized the 2^nd Summer School ‘‘Shipping in Action’’, from 11 to 14 July 2022, in the cities of Piraeus and Athens, in Greece. The Summer School has been a unique opportunity for outstanding undergraduate students from Greece and Abroad to take part in a unique educational experience through a practice-centered approach, educational field visits and lectures delivered by distinguished industry speakers.

The Students participated in an intensive educational programme, attending classes delivered by some of the most prominent industry experts, Mr Ilias Bissias, Visiting Lecturer at Alba & Director at Naftika Chronika, Dr Alexandros Glykas, Visiting Lecturer at Alba & Director at DYNAMARINe, Mr Simon Ward, FICS, Director at URSA Shipbrokers & ICS Lecturer, Cpt. Andreas Georgiou, FICS, Managing Director at GREGALE SHIPPING & ICS Lecturer, Capt. Titos Giannakakis, Alba Visiting Lecturer & DYNAMARINe Academy Executive.

During the sessions, students gained a true understanding of the Greek Shipping and were introduced to the business of international shipping. Special focus was placed on the increasingly hot topics of new technologies and of the environmental impact of shipping. Participants also had the chance to learn more of the commercial aspects, being introduced to the challenging environment of chartering and S&P.

To combine the theoretical knowledge obtained in class, students visited Neda Maritime Agency Co Ltd, a leading ship management company, where they attended an engaging corporate presentation and became familiarized with the organizational structure and the real-life professional environment. Beyond the office environment, students visited a vessel of Seaven Tanker Management where they had an onboard tour, and they were introduced to the main parts of the vessel and its relevant functions. Finally, the visit at the Piraeus Container Terminal of COSCO offered students a remarkable first-hand experience of the site and a detailed introduction on the terminal services, the operational procedures, and regulations.

All attendees had the chance to socialize and extend their network through extracurricular activities. The fulfilling archaeologist-guided tour of Acropolis Hill and Acropolis Museum enhanced students’ cultural awareness while the visit at Vouliagmeni beach (Athens Riviera) offered a unique enjoyable seaside experience peep.

We feel particularly proud of the collaboration between HMC/ICS Greek Branch and Alba, as both are leading institutions in Professional Maritime Training and Education, respectively, in Greece. Alba is a leading European Business School with a strong expertise in shipping education that offers three well-known graduate academic programs in shipping. HMC is a major professional maritime training and education provider to the shipping industry for more than 20 years and exclusively represents the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers in Greece since 2005. Through the ICS Professional Maritime Programme, candidates get prepared to sit for the ICS Examinations, which lead to the ICS Membership, a mark of professionalism in the shipping industry globally.

In the frame of our mission to offer top quality maritime education, we remain committed to our summer school programme, and we are looking forward to the next Summer School, Shipping in Action in 2023.