SOME of Greece’s top shipowners, as well as a number of smaller and more recently-established maritime businesses, walked off with the industry’s most prestigious awards trophies on Friday night after the 22nd annual Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards.

A capacity attendance of about 1,100 guests attended the latest edition of Greek shipping’s ‘Dinner of the Year’ that featured a large cast of celebrity personalities from the shipping world, coupled with plenty of discussion of hot industry themes from the podium.

By the last award of the evening — to Maria Angelicoussis as Greek Shipping Personality of the Year for a memorable 2025 that included the largest transaction in Angelicoussis Group history, the $2bn acquisition of Altera Shuttle Tankers — trophies had been presented in a total of 19 categories covering all key aspects of Greek shipping and the country’s maritime cluster.

The International Personality of the Year Award went to Christopher Wiernicki, a firm favourite in Greece who is retiring at the end of this year after a 15-year tenure as chairman and chief executive of classification society ABS. “I firmly believe the future of shipping is Greek shipping,” said Wiernicki who said that although he was handing over the reins of ABS he would remain engaged with the shipping industry.

Other major individual awards included the Lloyd’s List / Propeller Club Lifetime Achievement Award that was conferred on shipowner Antonis Comninos, founder of Target Marine and Horizon Tankers, who is still active in bulk carriers and tankers after a career of more than 50 years in the business.

At the other end of the age-scale, Marielena Procopiou, youngest daughter of tycoon George Prokopiou, won the Next Generation Shipping Award for the under-40s, for her strong start in the industry as an independent shipowner with a growing fleet of bulkers under Delos Navigation, that she founded in 2021, and Akrotiri Tankers, launched last year. Accepting the award, Procopiou said that the award was “a reminder of responsibility — the responsibility to carry forward what previous generations built, while contributing our own ideas.”

Diana Shipping chief executive Semiramis Paliou was unveiled as Newsmaker of the Year for 2025. Paliou is currently leading Diana’s bid to acquire fellow New York-listed bulker owner Genco and only recently she was re-elected chairperson of the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (Helmepa) for a third straight term.

Awarded companies were led by the company’s sole major liner operator, Neptune Lines, which has enjoyed a remarkable year in the highly competitive automotive transportation sector, carrying a projected 1.8m cars, constructing a quartet of LNG dual-fuelled newbuildings, expanding to Latin America and developing a first vehicle terminal as part of a push into shoreside automotive logistics.

Seaven Tanker Management became the first short-sea shipping company in the history of the awards to scoop one of the major prizes, winning the Tanker Company of the Year category. The Passenger Line of the Year Award was won by Grimaldi Group Greek subsidiary Minoan Lines.

Tsakos Energy Navigation won the Deal of the Year Award for its mammoth deal for nine shuttle tankers that it will construct for long-term charter to Transpetro, a subsidiary of Brazil’s Petrobras, a project that the US-listed tanker owner estimates will gross about $2bn in revenues.

Ariston Navigation was presented with the Technical Achievement Award for its retrofitting and testing of the Petroduct, a new energy-saving device of Greek origin. Meanwhile, Atlantic Bulk Carriers won The Sustainability Award for impressive reductions in energy consumption and emissions, but also a wider impact the company has had on the sustainability of the sector through numerous co-operations and innovations over many years.

The Safety Award was won by Megatugs Salvage & Towage for its epic salvage of the Greek-flagged tanker Sounion (IMO: 9312145), left burning in the Red Sea last year after being attacked by the Houthis. The operation has already been met with wide acclaim for its daring and professionalism in averting an environmental catastrophe when even experts rated the chances of success as poor.

The masters and crew of Megatugs’ salvage vessels were praised from the stage and, soon after, a Costamare containership master, Captain Dionysios Arkalis, was named Greek Seafarer of the Year for a rescue of seven crewmen from a small vessel adrift for two weeks in June this year in the middle of the South Atlantic.

Evangelos Marinakis-backed Capital Clean Energy Carriers accepted this year’s Ship of the Year Award for the newly-built Active, a world-first liquefied CO2 carrier of 22,000 cu m capacity constructed by HD Hyundai Mipo in South Korea.

As winner of the Award for Achievement in Education or Training, the judging panel chose the Aspropyrgos Merchant Marine Academy, the country’s largest academy and a pillar of the national seafarers’ training system for nearly 70 years.

Several other important awards recognised excellence and value in Greece’s maritime cluster. CrediaBank was voted Shipping Financier of the Year, while Intermodal was named Shipbroker of the Year.

The Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners Association, which currently holds the presidency of the European Shortsea Network, won the prestigious Piraeus International Centre Award. The Lloyd’s List Intelligence Big Data Award was won by Nereus Digital Bunkering for its innovative bunkering management platform.

The event was attended by Minister of Shipping & Island Policy Vasilis Kikilias who delivered a welcome address.

“Greek shipping has always been much more than an economic sector. It is a strategic pillar for our country and for Europe, a source of global stability, and a community of people whose work keeps international trade — and the world — moving,” said Kikilias.

He underlined that the government was “firmly committed to supporting” the country’s maritime ecosystem that ranged from shipowners and operators to “the officers and crews, the engineers, the scientists, the innovators, and the thousands of professionals across the wider maritime cluster.”

Headline sponsors of the event were led by Neptune Maritime Leasing that was overall Event Sponsor for the third straight year.

Prominent shipbroking firm Allegiant (Shipping) sponsored the event’s welcome drinks reception and Dimitris Vranopoulos of sponsor Marine Plus proposed the traditional champagne toast to the health of the Greek shipping industry.

A donation from proceeds of the event went to ‘Argo’, the charity supporting children with disabilities in the families of Greek seafarers and this was presented on behalf of the organisers by Gianluca Tucci, director general of the San Marino Ship Register, that sponsored the Gallery of Winners, an entrance chamber chronicling past honourees of the event since it was launched in 2004.

The annual awards recognise achievement and meritorious activity in the Greek shipping industry and promote Greece as a maritime centre. Winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges representing a broad cross-section of the Greek shipping industry.

WINNERS AT-A-GLANCE

Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards 2025

Dry Cargo Company of the Year

Neptune Lines

Tanker Company of the Year

Seaven Tanker Management

Passenger Line of the Year

Minoan Lines

Shipbroker of the Year

Intermodal

Shipping Financier of the Year

CrediaBank

Technical Achievement Award

Ariston Navigation

Lloyd’s List Intelligence Big Data Award

Nereus Digital Bunkering

Piraeus International Centre Award

Hellenic Shortsea Shipowners Association

The Safety Award

Megatugs Salvage & Towage

International Personality of the Year

Christopher J. Wiernicki

Achievement in Education or Training

AEN Aspropyrgos

Seafarer of the Year

Capt. Dionysios Arkalis

Ship of the Year

“Active"

The Sustainability Award

Atlantic Bulk Carriers

Deal of the Year

Tsakos Energy Navigation

Next Generation Shipping Award

Marielena Procopiou

Lloyd’s List/Propeller Club Lifetime Achievement Award

Anthony E. Comninos

Greek Shipping Newsmaker of the Year

Semiramis Paliou

Greek Shipping Personality of the Year

Maria Angelicoussis

The Lloyd's List Greek Awards is organised by InformaMarkets