The 35th Hellenic Marine Technical Committee Meeting of Bureau Veritas Piraeus took place on Thursday 22nd June 2023 at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Athens and was attended by more than 40 maritime industry technical leaders. The meeting was hosted by Mr. George Andreadis, Marine Chief Executive Greece and was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Mr. George Sarris, President of Enterprises Shipping & Trading S.A.

The event was divided in two sessions. The first session opened with a presentation by Dr John Kokarakis, Technical Director of South East Europe, Black Sea and Adriatic Zone Bureau Veritas who gave a thorough presentation on EU and IMO regulatory frameworks, complemented by examples of their effects on vessel running costs. He was followed by Mr Panagiotis Anastasiou, Cyber Security Technical Leader Bureau Veritas, whose presentation was focused on cyber resilience of ships and systems and how the new IACS Requirements and update BV Rules and services help to achieve it. The first session closed with Mr Bill Stamatopoulos, Global Business Development Director Central & South East Europe Region, Verifuel, with a presentation about the charter party clause for fuels.

The second session of the Committee commenced with Mr Vassilis Dimoulas, Technology & Innovation Director of South East Europe, Black Sea and Adriatic Zone presenting two trending decarbonization technologies: Methanol as a fuel and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The presentation was complemented nicely by the next and final one by Mrs Maria Lambardaki, Project Developer of South East Europe, Black Sea and Adriatic Zone Bureau Veritas who presented BV case studies for the effect of Methanol as fuel and CCS on CII, EU ETS and FuelEU. The Committee concluded with an open discussion on EU regulations.

Mr. Andreadis stated: “We are in a period of great change driven by regulation and changing markets – all supported by new technology and technical insight. In our committee we addressed key issues related to the energy transition and the digitalization of shipping. Marine classification, supported by our core product – class rules, is playing a vital role in helping ensure that the energy transition in, and digitalization of, the shipping industry will be safe while maximizing performance for sustainable outcomes. It is only by listening to and involving our clients and stakeholders that we can receive the input we need, so we thank them very much for taking part, for sharing their insights and for supporting us to help shape a better maritime world.”