Page 47: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2018)

orn in Aetoloakarnania in 1951, bulk carriers and tankers, but in recent ployment to more than 16,467 employ- second-hand oceangoing vessels worth

Kouroumplis holds a Law degree and a years this has expanded to include high- ees and are a driving force for the entire around $4.6 billion and sold 190 ships

PhD in Sociology from the University tech specialty ships, such as LNG and maritime cluster. to third parties at a price of $2.6 billion. of Athens. But the story of his life was LPG carriers Additionally, in the same year about 65 irrevocably altered much earlier at the As of March 2018, 723 large ocean- The Market old Greek ocean-going vessels were sold age 10 when lost his eyesight from the going vessels (greater than 1,000 gt) of While a clear leader, the Greek market for scrapping” said Kouroumplis. “On

B explosion of a hand-grenade, a remnant 74.53 million dwt ? y the Greek ? ag, and has not been immune to economic forces its part, the government exerts every of WW II. But instead of using his mis- the Greek-owned ? eet is still ? rst place which have conspired to mire maritime effort to retain a ‘level playing ? eld’, fortune as a crutch, he turned it into a internationally, with a ? eet of 4,148 in one of its deepest and longest slumps. meaning not enabling distortions of fair platform. After attending the School for ships (over 1,000 gt) of 341.92 million “It is well known that the increase in competition either through regional or the Blind in Athens, he became a pioneer dwt, representing 16.4% of the global global capacity has impacted the supply protective measures, as well as not al- of the Greek disability rights movement overall capacity in dwt. “The signi? cant and demand for maritime services and lowing unscrupulous operators to distort and was the ? rst blind person to be elect- contribution of shipping to the national consequently caused large ? uctuations market conditions, compromise safety ed member of the Hellenic Parliament. economy is clearly depicted in the for- in freight rates,” said Kouroumplis. and endanger the marine environment.”

To this day often cites his own disability eign currency in? ow which for 2017 “Despite such challenging times for the to encourage the young to become mas- amounted to 9.13 billion euros (in ac- shipping industry, the ? gures of Greek Emerging Regulation ters of their own fate. cordance with the “Transportation” Title shipping remained virtually unaffected. As the IMO helps to steer the global of the of? cial “Services Balance” issued It is noted that in 2017 there was a re- maritime industry toward ‘decarboniza-

The Job by the Bank of Greece) and also in the covery in bulk carrier orders which was tion’, the Greek industry must also con-

The Ministry for Maritime Affairs and signi? cant number of jobs created in not accompanied by a similar increase tinue its investment in new ships and

Insular Policy operates is a quasi ‘‘one- the country and the multiplying effects in tanker orders. This is explained by technology to keep place. “Our country’s stop shop’’ for maritime and shipping is- through economic added value on other the increased demand for ores, food and standing policy is the recognition of the sues, with aims at: sectors of the Greek economy,” said containers, while the existing tanker ca- IMO’s regulatory primacy over regional • Safeguarding the effective opera- Kouroumplis. pacity proved to be suf? cient to meet measures for the global application of a tion and development of greek ship- The Greek shipping cluster is a top demand.” level playing ? eld by analogy to the in- ping, the protection of human life at performer within the Greek economy, According to Kouroumplis, the best ternational seagoing shipping activities sea and the marine environment, a cluster composed of 1,389 shipping way to stay in business in such a chal- for all ships regardless of the ? ag they • Organizing and supervising mari- companies (696 in the ? eld of ship man- lenging environment is to invest in qual- ? y,” said Kouroumplis.

time education and training, regu- agement and 693 in the ? eld of charter- ity shipping, channel investments to in- Speci? cally he cites the recent MEPC lating and resolving maritime labor ing/brokerage and other shipping activi- novative new types of ships and grasp decisions regarding the adoption of an issues in full compliance with appli- ties) operating in Piraeus, resulting in the opportunities inherent in such times. initial strategy on the reduction of GHG cable international standards, $2.8 billion entering Greece in shipping “It is worth noting that according to Al- emissions from ships as “an impor- • Overseeing the administration, op- foreign exchange for their operational lied Shipbroking ? gures, until Christmas tant milestone” in the IMO’s efforts to eration and development of ports, costs. These companies offer direct em- 2017 Greek shipowners purchased 289 achieve fair solutions for an internation- the organization and management of pilotage services, formulating and implementing a national ports policy, • Organizing and carrying out mari- time surveillance for ships, small boats, ports within the waters under the Hellenic jurisdiction • Formulating national insular policy (note that Greece hosts more than a hundred inhabited islands).

“Moreover, the Hellenic Coastguard is integrally linked to the administrative structure of the Ministry to perform its institutional mission comprising of both shipping related and operational tasks, amongst which I would discern the huge efforts invested in border control mis- sions and in rescuing hundreds of thou- sands of migrants and refugees in the

Aegean Sea during the past years,” said

Kouroumplis.

Greek Shipping Today

Greece has one of the longest and strongest histories as a seafaring nation, and today the shipping industry is one of

Thrustmaster’s complete line of mechanical and hydraulic azimuthing thrusters are trusted the most dynamics aspects of the Greek sY?ŽwGŽIlSGwŽ?lEGwAYEsYOE?YAwsÐAuu?ÐŽ?sOŽYGESGA|?usOŽÐG?AOŽY??tslS?s?G??Ð economy, and Greece remains one the lŽ?DtAYEÐŽYIO??AOŽY?sYÐu?EsYO?YEG??AlG?wŽ?YlAduG??Gl?AÐlAduG?AYEŽ?ldŽA?E?

world’s largest shipping nations. Tra- dS???lwA?lG?SA?A?Žu?OŽYIŽ?G|G??SGA|?usOAÐÐusÐAOŽY?

ditional ? eet pro? les including mainly ????dS???lwA?lG??YGl www.marinelink.com 47

MR #5 (42-49).indd 47 MR #5 (42-49).indd 47 5/3/2018 11:52:15 AM5/3/2018 11:52:15 AM