Synergy Needed

Mr. George D. Gourdomichalis was born in 1967 in London.
He attended Athens College and went on to graduate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a BA in International Economics and a BA in Political Science.
He further earned an MSc in Ocean Marine Transportation Management from the Maritime Academy of the State of New York.
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 and was responsible for commercial management of Baltmed Shipping Co.
In 1996 he returned to Greece and 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. These activities were consolidated and in 2005 were successfully merged resulting in the public listing of FreeSeas Inc. on the NASDAQ Exchange. This shareholding was sold in January 2007 where upon he co-founded G. Bros Maritime S.A., he is currently CEO of Blue Wall Shipping and Phoenix Shipping & Trading S.A. George serves on the RINA Hellenic Committee, the Board of Directors of the American P&I Club and the Industry Advisory Board of the North American Merchant Ministries Association, he is President of the Board of Directors of the Piraeus Marine Club, member of the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce responsible for the shipping industry, member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and member of the Baltic Exchange.

George D Pateras, born in London UK and the father of 3 adult children, is the Deputy Chairman, Contships Management Inc. and since 2016 the Chairman of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping.

He studied Engineering and Economics and holds a BSc in Marine Engineering from Newcastle University, MS in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture from MIT and a PhD from Plymouth University.

He is a Board member of the Hellenic War Risks Association and the Bahamas Shipowners Association, Chairman of the Hellenic Shipping War Risks Insurance S.A., Vice Chairman, NATO, PBOS now TG(OS) (2000-) and permanent advisor (AMSCC) of the Hellenic Ministry of Defence.

Dr Pateras has also served as the Chairman of the Bahamas Shipowners’ Association (2011-2015) and as a Board member of the Hellenic Seamen’s Pension Fund (1984- 1993), Olympic Aviation (1991-1993), the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping (1986-2015), the Union of Greek Shipowners (1983-2004), HELMEPA (1996-1998) and BSA representative on International Chamber of Shipping (2011-2015) and Managing Director of Aegeus Shipping S.A. (1981 - 2018)

Theo Xenakoudis joined IRI’s Piraeus office in 2001 as Business Development Manager after serving in the Greek Navy. In this role, Theo was instrumental in assisting with the promotion of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Maritime and Corporate Registries in the Mediterranean region.

In January 2007, Theo was promoted to Managing Director of IRI’s Piraeus office and continued to strengthen
IRI’s relationship with the maritime and corporate communities in his marketing territory. He has also expanded the reach of the Piraeus office to include markets in Turkey, Italy, and Monaco while still maintaining a strong relationship with the Greek shipping community.

In April 2011, Theo was given the additional responsibility of serving as IRI’s Worldwide Business Operations Officer, and in February 2015 was promoted to Director, Worldwide Business Operations. Theo holds a Bachelor of Science in Transport and Shipping (Insurance and Maritime Law Pathway) and received his Master of Laws (L.L.M.) in Maritime Law from the Business College of Athens, in association with London Metropolitan University.

Mrs. Ana Margarita Reyes is currently, the Deputy Administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority and the Executive Director of the Logistic Cabinet for the Ministry of the Presidency in the Republic of Panama.

Since 2015, she has overseen government and private initiatives by facilitating dialogue among different stakeholders (academia, government, private and multilateral sectors) to create consensus among the initiatives to improve competitiveness in the logistics sector.

Mrs. Reyes has led the development of a road map for the logistics sector resulting in the elaboration of a National Logistics Strategy for the year 2030 with the participation and consensus of all public and private stakeholders.

Prior to her appointment at the Ministry of the Presidency, Mrs. Reyes has a vast experience at the Panama Canal Authority as part of the strategic team for the Office of the Administrator involved in projects for efficiency improvement, project management and strategic planning since 1993.

Mrs. Reyes serves as Chairman for the Advisory Board of the Georgia Tech Panama Logistics Innovation and Research Center, Board Member for the Panama City Public Transportation System and Member of the Board of Directors for the High Commission on Construction Industry Performance.

She holds a master’s degree in International Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies from Georgia Tech, a master’s degree in business administration from Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems from the University of Texas.

Mrs. Reyes has also participated in the Advance Management Program in Innovation from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mrs. Reyes has been speaker and panelist in several international conferences in Europe,
Asia and the Americas promoting Panama as a Global Logistic Hub.

Joel Walton has been the CEO of the Maritime Authority of the Cayman Islands, which has owned and operated the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry (also known as the Cayman Registry) since May 2004. Previously, Mr. Walton served in various posts within the Cayman Islands public sector, including as Deputy Financial Secretary of the Cayman Islands for 11 years.

Mr. Walton has held appointments on a number of boards and committees in the Cayman public and private sectors. These include: Chairman of the Maritime Sector Consultative Committee; Deputy Chairman of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority; Chairman of the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority; Chairman of the Company Sector Consultative Committee; Deputy Chairman of the Cayman Islands Public Service Pensions Board, and Deputy Chairman of the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange Authority. Mr. Walton has also held other board appointments, including, with the Caribbean Utilities Company Ltd., a TSE-listed company, and with the Caribbean Development Bank.

In 1983, Mr. Walton obtained a Bachelor of Administration (Hons) degree with a specialisation in Finance and an MBA in 1988 with a concentration in Finance and Strategic Planning.

From 2010 to 2016, he held the position of Deputy Technical manager of Springfield Shipping. Spyros joined the Onassis Shipping Group in 1999 as a superintendent engineer with a previous 9 years’ experience in the shipping and oil industry. He was born and raised in Athens and holds a BSc degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. He is a member of TEE, SNAME and ABS, LR, DNV-GL Technical Committees. On Oct 2018 he was elected as a Vice Chairman of Intercargo.

Vroon is a family owned international shipping company, founded in 1890. With headquarters located in Breda (the Netherlands), the company employs about 3,000 professionals in offices around the world and on board a diverse fleet.

Vroon owns approximately 170 vessels consisting of
Bulkers;
Product/chemical tankers;
High-heat tankers;
Wind turbine installation vessels;
Container vessels;
Livestock carriers;
Car carriers;
Offshore-support vessels;

Directorships:
Since 1996 Member of the Board of the Royal Dutch Shipowners’ Association (KVNR)
Since 2007 Member of the Benelux Advisory Committee of Lloyd’s Register
Since 2014 Member of the Owner’s Committee Region West Europe and Africa of DNV-GL
Since 2012 Member of the Nothern European Advisory Committee of RINA
Since 2016 Member of the Board of the North of England P&I Association Ltd.

Education:
1975 – 1980 Business Economics
Erasmus University Rotterdam
2008 Advanced Management Programme / International Executive Programme, INSEAD

Mr. George A. Tsavliris was born in London. He graduated from Athens College in
1968 and having acquired professional qualifications in Shipping (F.I.C.S., ACI.Arb),
he concluded his graduate and post graduate studies in Shipping Law at University
College London in 1973, with an L.L.M. degree. In 2009 he was qualified as a
Mediator at the ADR Group London and in 2014 was certified as a Mediator by the
Greek Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights.

He familiarized himself with the shipping and salvage sectors from a very early age
by being engaged in the family business. George is a Principal at “Tsavliris Salvage
Group” and represents the business on both a commercial and environmental basis
internationally. He holds the position of Past Chairman of INTERMEPA (International
Marine Environment Protection Association), Chairman of CYMEPA (Cyprus Marine
Environmental Protection Association), which received the “Cyprus Maritime Prize
2007”, as well as member of the Board of Directors of Cyprus Union of Shipowners,
Board Member of ECSA (European Community Shipowners’ Associations), Board
Member of The Yacht Club of Greece, Board Member of Friends of Hellas Liberty
Association and the Jubilee Sailing Trust in the UK and Honorary Chairman of the
Tsavliris Cultural Foundation. Furthermore, Mr. George Tsavliris is Member of the
Academic Board of Metropolitan College / Solent Southampton University. Mr
George Tsavliris was awarded the 2016 Capital Link Greek Shipping Leadership
Award, in recognition of his unique and extensive contribution to Shipping and
Greece and for his overall outstanding service to the shipping industry made by him
individually, as a family and by his company as a Group. In Jan 2019, Mr Tsavliris
received the Cyprus Environmental Award on behalf of CYMEPA by the President of
the Cypriot Republic Mr Nikos Anastasiades and on March 12th, 2019, Mr Tsavliris
was recognized with the Safety4Sea Leadership Award 2019 for his work with
CYMEPA and other national & international organizations, toward the protection of
the marine environment. Most recently, Mr Tsavliris was appointed Non-Executive
Chairman of SSL Endeavour Insurance Brokers Cyprus & Greece.