The winners of the Tanker Shipping & Trade Awards 2021 were announced after a sumptuous gala dinner in Athens
The Tanker Shipping & Trade awards are one of the highlights of the normally annual Tanker Shipping & Trade Conference, Exhibition and Awards, Europe. The Covid-19 pandemic played its part and so it was an excited crowd that returned for the first live event in two years.
For the first, and certainly not the last time, the Tanker Shipping & Trade European event was held in Athens, Greece, the home of some of the world’s most significant tanker operators.
It was fitting that the supporting organisation for the event was INTERTANKO, alongside Silver sponsors crewing specialist Danica, the Palau International Ship Register and Q88. The awards event was preceded by a drinks reception sponsored by IRI/Marshall Islands.
The awards were presented at a gala dinner kindly sponsored by the Liberian Registry, Ocean Technologies Group and Thome Group.
The key feature of the Tanker Shipping & Trade awards is that the winners are chosen by the industry from nominations submitted by those in the tanker industry. As the master of ceremonies, Riviera Maritime Media executive editor and head of business relations Edwin Lampert said, “These are your awards, decided by you.”
The first award to be presented was the Tanker Operator of the Year Award sponsored by DNV, which was also the Platinum sponsor of the event. The nominees were Tsakos Energy Navigation, Odfjell Tankers, Shell International Trading and Shipping, Thome Group and Capital Group.
The winner of the award was Tsakos Energy Navigation and DNV vice president and business director, tanker Catrine Vestereng presented the award to Tsakos Group vice chairman Vassilis Papageorgiou.
In addition to the Tanker Operator of the Year Award, an honourable mention was given to Capital Group for the rescue of over 150 migrants in the Mediterranean by its Aframax tanker Aristofanis. This award was collected by Capital Ship Management chief communications officer Niki Kalogiratou.
Shortlisted for the Environmental Award sponsored by ABS, were Pantheon Tankers Management, V.Group and Euronav. Presenting the award was ABS (Greece) director, regional business development, Elias Kariambas. ABS was also a Gold sponsor of the event. The winner was Euronav for its acceleration of the development of dual-fuel ammonia-powered VLCCs and Aframax tankers. The Environmental Award was collected by Euronav Shipmanagement marine manager Capt Panagiotis Mpikas, who said, “Thank you very much. Shipping offers many surprises, and this is one of the nice surprises.”
The fourth award of the evening was the Tanker of the Year Award sponsored by Vortexa, with three very different tankers having received nominations.
23,000-dwt small clean tanker Prospero beat off two strong contenders in shuttle tanker Live Knutsen and 50,000-dwt MarineLine tank-coated chemical product tanker Dianella.
Donsötank’s Prospero incorporates a range of design features and technologies that will become standard on tankers if owners and operators are to future-proof newbuildings in the low-carbon emissions era. Donsötank safety manager Daniel Olsson and marine superintendent Alexander Björk collected the Tanker of the Year award on behalf of the company. Mr Björk and Mr Olsson gave their thanks for the award and also thanked everyone involved in Prospero, both in Sweden and at the shipyard in China.
Industry Leader of the Year Award is given to someone the tanker industry has recognised as having achieved new industry standards and exemplifies best management practices. Dimitris Dimopoulos of INTERTANKO, the supporting organisation of the conference, took to the stage to say a few words about the winner, Euronav Ship Management (Hellas) general manager Stamatis Bourboulis.
Mr Dimopoulos said Mr Bourboulis had a good start in the industry, having graduated from National Technical University of Athens, and working for shipyards before joining Ceres Hellenic. In 2005, he joined Euronav and Mr Dimopoulos describe the award winner as a person engaged in every aspect of their business, “from the engineroom to the boardroom”.
In collecting the Industry Leader of the Year Award, Mr Bourboulis gave his thanks and said, “I have encountered people that have inspired me and have helped me to develop both professionally and personally. I believe the leader is as good as the team. I would not be able to stand here in front of you, if my colleagues on board and ashore did not perform their job with professionalism and to a very high standard. I would like to dedicate this award to them.”
The final award of the evening was the Lifetime Achievement Award, given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the tanker industry. Tsakos Group vice chairman Vassilis Papageorgiou was on hand to say a few words about the winner, Denis Petropoulos.
In collecting the Lifetime Achievement Award, Denis Petropoulos noted he started in the industry on 2 November 1978, which makes him a 43-year veteran of the tanker business.
Mr Petropoulos was a trainee shipbroker at Clarksons under the legendary Tony Klima, who later became Clarksons chairman. As a trainee broker, he had the intelligence to respond quickly to an early morning phone call from Greek shipping legend George Livanos and fixed his latest tanker purchase with French oil major Elf. It was the start of a long relationship between the trainee Denis Petroloulos and shipowner George Livanos.
There has not been a Posthumous Award presentation before at the Tanker Shipping & Trade Awards, but with the event taking place in Greece for the first time, it was felt the passing of Greek shipping legend John Angelicoussis should receive due recognition.
The Posthumous Award was collected on behalf of the company and the Angelicoussis family by Angelicoussis Group director Stelios Troulis.
Riviera would like to thank all the sponsors of the Tanker Shipping & Trade, Conference, Exhibition and Awards event, including the Gold sponsors: ABS, Bureau Veritas, Liberian Registry, MTM Ship Management, Ocean Technologies Group, IRI/Marshalls Islands, Thome Group, and Vortexa. A special mention goes to Platinum sponsor, DNV.
Nominations for the 2022 Tanker Shipping & Trade awards will open 1 March 2022. Please send your nominations for all categories to Paul Dowling: paul.dowling@rivieramm.com
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