One-day Conference
“The Road is the Sea – Prospects of the Maritime Profession”
Press release
May 17, 2022
Cultural Hall “D. Chatzis”, Municipality of Ioannina

On the occasion of the International Day for Women in Maritime, the 3rd Regional Administration of the Hellenic Coast Guard, The Region of Epirus, the Eugenides Foundation, the Magazine Naftika Chronika, the Regional Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education of Epirus and the Municipality of Ioannina co-organized the one-day conference entitled “The Road is the Sea – Prospects of the Maritime Profession” on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, at the Cultural Hall “D. Chatzis” of the Municipality of Ioannina.

Representatives of the organizations that co-organized the event addressed welcome remarks, Mr. Evangelos Kyriazopoulos, Secretary-General of Ports, Port Policy and Maritime Investments of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Evriviades Sapounas, Director of the 3rd Regional Port Authority Administration, Mr. Charilaos Lazanis, Deputy Regional Governor of Epirus, Mr. Leonidas Dimitriadis-Evgenidis, President of the Eugenides Foundation & IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador, Mr. Elias Bisias, Director of the magazine Naftika Chronika and of Isalos.net, and Mr. Konstantinos Kampourakis, Director of the Regional Directorate of Education of Epirus.

Also, Mr. Pantelis Kikeris, the Director of the Merchant Marine Academy of Epirus, and Ms. Anthi Davakou, representative of the Directorate of Seafarers’ Training the attended event.

120 students from the 3rd and 6th Vocational High School of Ioannina and the 7th High School of Ioannina, discussed with Mr. Elias Bisias and Ms. Amalia Koulouris, Master, and asked questions about the maritime professions but also their concerns about joining the maritime profession. The speakers addressed the students’ questions about the ways of joining the maritime profession, discussed the difficulties but also the lures of the profession, about life on modern ships, while at the end of the event Mrs. Athena Lagou, executive of the 3rd Regional Administration of the Hellenic Coast Guard, informed the students about the responsibilities of the Coast Guard, about the role of women in the ranks of the Coast Guard, as well as about the way of their admission to the Coast Guard.

In his speech, the IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador in Greece, Mr. Leonidas Dimitriadis-Evgenidis, referred to the IMO’s contribution to global shipping, the importance of celebrating International Day for Women in Maritime, the new skills and knowledge that the seafarers need today, but also in the enormous career opportunities offered by the maritime professions.

Finally, he stressed the need to create a maritime sector at the Vocational High Schools of the Epirus Region and stated that this is a collective effort of the state and the organizations involved, which aims to continuously increase the number of Greek Merchant Marine Officers as well as to maintain the lead of Greek Shipping worldwide.