Speakers

Owner and Managing Director of the Cyprus-based shipping company Mastermind Shipmanagement Ltd (MSM), founded in 1999 in Limassol, Cyprus which presently manages 25 ships consisting of both fully owned vessels and third-party management dry-cargo ships.

German-born Captain Eugen Adami began his nautical career at Elsfleth Nautical University. In addition to his successful merchant marine career, serving as Master of the Bremen-owned cargo ship Condor P, Captain Adami has a wealth of experience as master of tall ships, spanning more than 25 years. He has sailed on and captained both the SS Thor Heyerdahl and the SS Grossherzogin-Elizabeth (formerly the SS Ariadne) and still retains an association with both sail-training vessels.

Captain Eugen Adami is a Principal Lecturer and permanent member of the Advisory Board at the Department of Maritime Transport and Commerce of Frederick University. Since 2014, he teaches both undergraduate and post-graduate students a wide range of subjects in commercial shipping and ship management.

Captain Adami has played a pivotal role in the development of industry focused programmes of maritime studies in Cyprus. He has been honoured by the University for his fundamental contribution to the new Professional Marine Engineering Programme as well as the set-up of its modern training workshop facilities, located in Limassol. He has been actively involved in the organisation and has chaired several international scientific maritime conferences. Furthermore, he has participated in numerous research projects as a researcher and as a shipping consultant.

Chrysostomos Efthymiou is the Marine Officer of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber. He coordinates the Digitalisation, the Manning and Training, the Offshore Activities and the Educational Activities Committees of the Chamber. He liaises with Governmental and other professional bodies on marine related matters affecting the Chamber. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Shipping and Finance and he is a Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers.

Dr. Ioannis Filippopoulos a “technology architect”, a “team leader”, an information systems and a digital transformation specialist with a passion exceptional aptitude for working with computers combined with an astounding academic background in computer and software engineering (PhD) and business management (MBA). He is also teaching and researching of innovative systems and platforms and he is specialized in Geographical Information Systems. For more than eight years, he has been specializing in Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain platforms in shipping industry as CIO at a top-performing maritime company (Angelicoussis Group). Today he is expanding the research activities to other industries as Assistance Professor at Cyprus International Institute of Management, Academic Consultant to Hellenic American University and as Visiting Professor at University of Thessaly, University of Nicosia, Cyprus University of Technology & European University Cyprus.

Francis Zachariae began the work as Secretary-General of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) February 2015. Francis Zachariae has a background from the Royal Danish Navy, the Ministry of Defence, the EU Council Secretariat and the Danish Maritime Authority where he was the Deputy Director General. He is educated from the naval Academy, from Collège Interarmées de Défense in Paris and has a Master of Science, Public Administration. Francis Zachariae is residing in St. Germain en Laye, France where lives with his wife Jane. They have two grown up sons.

Dr. Ioannis Kyriakides received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Arizona State University. Throughout his graduate studies, he held a research associate position, funded by the Integrated Sensing and Processing program and the Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative of the USA Department of Defence. In the final year of his Ph.D. work, he received the University Graduate Fellowship of Arizona State University. His research interests include Bayesian target tracking, sequential Monte Carlo methods, and cognitive fusion for heterogeneous data fusion and heterogeneous sensing node configuration. His research work includes localization of multiple RF sources, tracking surface vehicles using passive acoustic sensing, tracking multiple targets with constraints in motion, tracking multiple targets using heterogeneous cognitive sensors, autonomous vehicle path planning for information acquisition. Dr. Kyriakides is currently an Associate Professor at the Engineering Department at the University of Nicosia, a Senior Scientist at the Maritime Digitalization Center of Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute, and the CEO of Cognitive Fusion Systems. He was the PI for projects with a total budget of over € 2 M.  

Jeppe Skovbakke Juhl is educated as naval architect and holds a position as manager in the BIMCO department for Maritime Safety & Security for the past almost 10years. He is responsible for coordinating BIMCO's initiative on a large variety of technical related matters. His core competencies cover maritime digitalization and autonomous ships, port efficiency and ship-shore interface and data exchange, in-depth technical knowledge to maritime air emissions and the IMO Green House Gas Strategy, Maritime Plastic Litter and lost containers at sea, as well as in-dept knowledge in ship stability (intact and damage). Having attended IMO meetings through his whole career, he has core insight to issues related to maritime flag state administration (flag state implementation, goal- and functional-based regulation, Risk-based approval process, including Formal Safety Assessment methodology). Mr. Juhl has previously been working at FORCE Technology with research and innovation projects for 8 years and at the Danish Maritime Authority for another 8 years.

Andreas Chrysostomou is a seasoned professional in the shipping industry. He holds an MBA (Master’s in Business Administration) and he graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, with a Bachelor of Engineering in Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding. Mr. Chrysostomou, in his long-standing career, before joining Tototheo Maritime as CSO, was the Director of the Department of Merchant Shipping, (the Maritime Authority of Cyprus), CEO of Transmed shipping Co. Ltd. And Act. Secretary General of CLIA Europe. He also held senior management roles in fields such as safety and security, protection of the marine environment and administration. He also served as the elected Chairman of the Design and Equipment Subcommittee of the IMO and of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), one of the main Committees at IMO. He was twice elected and re-elected Chairman of the International Mobile Satellite Organization and served as member of the Board of Governors of the World Maritime University (WMU). He also served as President of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMAREST). Mr. Chrysostomou’s skills and integrity have been acknowledged by peers, by awarding him the 2011 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Shipping. In November 2011 he has also been presented with the Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Coast Guard, for his invaluable service to International Shipping and in 2013 the GST Award - Leading Shipping Personality of the Decade 2003 - 2013. Furthermore Mr. Andreas Chrysostomou was awarded The Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Award - “International Personality of the Year” 2015.

Paola Hadjilambri has a wealth of experience having previously worked at the Hellenic Olympic Committee as a PR & Marketing Manager and, later on, in the media at 'DIAS' Publishing House, SIGMA TV and ANT1 Cyprus. She has experience in Marketing & Digital Marketing, from setting up marketing plans, to implementing strategy and promotion through social media. She used to be the PR & Marketing Director of The International School of Paphos and Boarding House representing Cyprus in various countries abroad, creating new collaborations and synergies.

Paola has degrees in Acting, Greek Literature and Law while she has also obtained a Master of Arts in International Relations and Diplomacy.

She is also is a motivational speaker for the Creative Women Association and is also a published author with her book on presentation skills 'Show Up! How to be a powerhouse in front of the camera!' which is distributed worldwide by Amazon. She is an accredited trainer by the HRDA, a Director of the Board of the Cyprus-Germany Business Association and a Member of the Events Committee of the Cyprus Shipping Chamber.

Her motto is 'Sky is NOT the limit!'

Alexandros Josephides was born in 1962. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering. He started his career as a Mechanical Engineer in 1986 and worked in the US, Cyprus and Libya for different companies. In 1992 he joined the Cyprus Bureau of Shipping where he received training and worked as a Marine Surveyor. In 1995 he moved to the Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC), the trade association of the shipping industry in Cyprus, where he currently serves as Deputy Director General/Marine Manager. In 2015, following a proposal by the Cyprus Maritime Administration, he was appointed by IMO as “IMO Maritime Ambassador” for Cyprus specifically tasked to promote maritime and seafaring professions to the young generation.

Simon Fotakis is the Chief Technology Officer of Tototheo Maritime. He’s accountable for the entire Information Technology Services spectrum, ranging from Software Development, Satellite Communications to Infrastructure and Information Security. Simon is a business focused technology leader, with a 20 year+ track record forged with some of the world’s leading E-Commerce retailers, mainly headquartered in London, UK. His background is technology centric, with emphasis on leadership, team management and strategy, focused on operations, infrastructure and information security. Simon has previously managed large, multi-cultural, geographically dispersed teams and drafted business aligned strategies sustaining revenue growth to €6bn pa while maintaining a ‘customer first’ approach to service management. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic & Communications Engineering that covers topics such as satellite communications, is an associate member of the IEEE (Institution of Electrical & Electronic Engineers) and holds the CISSP certification attesting to his expertise in all Information Security domains.

 Alex Zervos has been with GT for around 4 months, and this is his first role within the Maritime Industry. Prior to joining GT, he worked in London offering a Saas Collaboration platform for the UK's largest Law firms. Moving on to the banking industry providing an automated Anti-Money Laundering Saas solution to Tier 1 banks.

He is now based in Athens, as the Regional Head of Sales for Southern Europe, Middle East & Africa. Alex is thoroughly enjoying his time with GT Maritme so far, working in an exciting, and forever growing industry.

George Strouzakis has a broad background in Telecom and ICT, both in industry as well as in academia. He mastered in mathematics at the University of Paris and is an associate to Cranfield Defense Academy of the UK, specialized in Electronic Warfare. He has more than two decades of experience in the telecommunications, IT and Cyber Security, with a successful track record of building and leading private and publicly traded companies. He has always held decision making management position throughout his business career and has made a number of global innovations and scientific achievements for military and law enforcement niche technologies. In 2016 he has signed a strategic partnership with Samsung SDS, resulting to an extremely powerful communications platform for the government, law enforcement agencies and for high net worth individuals. In 2018 he has signed a global added value services agreement with Thuraya Telecommunications, whereas the inhouse developed platform has been approved and certified as the most secure system for the Thuraya satellite government ecosystem. Operations in the Cyprus market are offered via its affiliate Alpha Omega Zed Limited, based in Nicosia. Presently, he leads a very ambitious and innovative concept in cyber Defence, combining Threats and Successful cyber Attacks analysis with Open Source Intelligence, for the enterprise and government market, exposing and footprinting the attackers and their attached semantic network.

Gregoris Gregoriou is the IT Manager at Island Oil Holdings Ltd.  With a more than 20 years of experience working on various esteemed companies Gregoris provides leadership for the continued development of an innovative, robust, and secure information technology environment throughout Island Oil Holdings’ worldwide IT operations, offshore and onshore. He provides oversight for all information systems and drives optimization and efficiency across the enterpriseby developing specialized software and by providing data analysis. Gregoris received his MSc. from Carnegie Mellon University and holds a variety of technical and professional certifications.

Demetris Charalambous is the General Manager of Petronav Ship Management Ltd (PSL), a member of Island Oil Holdings Group.  He has joined PSL in October 2019.  Previously, he had been General Manager on board Marella Discovery, Marella Cruises, TUI UK for almost two years.  In the past, he had been with Celestyal/Louis Cruises from 1999 to 2017 (with a break between 2004/2005).  In his last capacity at Celestyal Cruises, Demetris had been Senior Manager Hotel Operations – Onboard Revenues being responsible for several hotel operation matters and all onboard revenue generating activities e.g. food, beverages, casino, spa, gift shop, photo shop etc. aiming at fully maximizing their potential in order to contribute towards reaching the company's overall budgetary goals.  At Celestyal/Louis Cruises, he had also held the positions of Senior Manager Cruise Product Development and Senior Manager Purchasing where with his team he was responsible for the sourcing and purchasing of all food, beverage, and consumable items on board around €25 million annually.  As a Cruise Product Development Manager, he was responsible for all new project feasibility and planning process and he was also the contact person for all Charterers or potential Charterers at Louis Cruises liaising with all departments as needed.

He received a BSc in Hotel and Restaurant Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and was then employed on board Royal Viking Line/Cunard Line for three years.  After receiving a Fulbright Scholarship, he returned to school and obtained a Master's Degree in Hospitality Management at Cornell University.  After a short employment period in the Food and Beverage Department at the New York Palace Hotel in New York City, he returned to the cruise industry in 1997 with Cunard Line as Food & Beverage Manager.

He has attended several forums as a Guest Speaker such as Posidonia and Seatrade and has taught a hospitality management course at University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus.

Captain Nikos Aslanis is an experienced tanker Captain and academician with broad experience in ship management, and safety systems, ISM Lead Auditor, Maritime Security Auditor, ISO 9001/14001/18001/50001 Auditor, Qualified Navigation Assessor, Navigation Auditor, Senior Training Instructor, VDR Data Analyst, Cargo Operation Auditor, with broad maritime experience in operation of different types of ship.

Cpt N. Aslanis is a Class "A" Master Mariner with a 13 year experience on Crude Oil, Product / Chemical Tankers. (5 years of which served onboard as a Master, Chief Officer).

He has an MBA in Maritime Management from the University of Leicester and has rendered his services to a number of companies from the position of Operations, Quality & Safety, Marine, Manager, DPA and CSO, leading and streamlining the activities of the Operations, Quality & Safety, Marine Departments.

He is the Hon. Chairman of The Nautical Institute Greece(Hellenic)Branch,Member of The Nautical Institute Council,Ambassador of  The Nautical Institute Marine Accidents Reporting Scheme(MARS),Founder Member of The Nautical Institute Armillary Club,CHIRP MARITIME, UK Ambassador.

With more than 20 years of experience providing maritime IT and communications solutions to global fleets, David Tropp Hag has a deep understanding of the requirements for a successful maritime IT project – from technical management to onboard operations. He has been instrumental in the success of KVH AgilePlans, which offers KVH's global connectivity, VSAT hardware, news, entertainment, and training content, and free installation in as many as 4,000 ports and locations around the world. AgilePlans is a driving force behind KVH's place as the maritime VSAT market share leader by units. Mr. Tropp Hag is responsible for all KVH mobile connectivity sales operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Martina Meinders built up a successful international career in shipping for the past two decades. Starting from Hamburg in the 1990’s, as Chartering Assistant, Martina is today the Managing Director of Marin Shipmanagement Ltd. (MSM) in Cyprus, a Ship- and Crew-Management company and member of NSC-Group in Hamburg. Moreover, Martina is holding the Director position in various associated Holding- and Ship Owning companies in Cyprus. In 2015, Martina’s international management approach and vision were awarded the prestigious MBA (Executive MBA in Shipping and Logistics) from the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. She also makes time to nurture a systematic engagement with local associations and professional bodies of the countries MSM operates with (Cyprus, Manila, China, Myanmar). In Cyprus, Martina is a member of the Cyprus Committee of DNV-GL, board member of CYMEPA and a member of WISTA CYPRUS, a strategic professional association were she has been a founding member and Secretary General in its first executive committee (2011-2015). While running Marin Shipmanagement from Cyprus, Martina has daily challenges that require fast and efficient international decisions which demonstrate systematically her agile and holistic management style, with focus on her multi-cultural teams’ collaboration and productivity.