On Friday, 29^th March 2024, the Cyprus Marine Club (CMC) hosted an interview with the President of the Olympia Ocean carriers and Vice President Cyprus Union of Shipowners (CUS), Mr. George Mouskas.

OOC is in charge of 7 Cape-size vessels and 4 Panamax/Kamsarmax ships with a total DWT of more than 1.5 million tons. All vessels are flying the Cyprus Flag.

Mr. George Mouskas has been always actively involved in Cyprus shipping and promoting the Cyprus flag, and in 2009 was elected President of the Cyprus Union of Shipowners, a position he held until 2016. Today he is still actively supporting the Cyprus Union of Shipowners as the Vice-President.

George has also been a director on many boards related to shipping such as marine insurance companies and P & I Clubs. Currently, he is on the board of the UK P & I Defence Club Cyprus.

Mr. George Mouskas is married to Mary since 1975 and they have 3 children and 7 grandchildren.

The interview,  followed by dinner took place at the Gazebo Mare in Limassol Marina and was attended by 150 members and guests incl.  Dr. Anthony Madella, Director of the Development and Competitiveness of Shipping Cluster Directorate, representing the Shipping Deputy Ministry,  Mr. Stephen Cotton –  General Secretary of ITF, and Mr. Polys Hajioannou – Vice President of CUS.

President of Cyprus Marine Club, Captain Eberhard Koch, shared his contentment about the high number of guests, and welcomed new members: Columbia Shipmanagement (Corporate Member)  and Mr. Ronan Le Du (Individual Member).Capt. Koch also announced the next CMC events scheduled for 19^th April, 24^th May, 7^thJune, and 9^th July.

The role of the interview Moderator took up Mrs. Julia Paczkowska, General Secretary of Cyprus Marine Club who challenged Mr. Mouskas with a dozen thought-provoking questions.

Mr. G. Mouskas had the opportunity to talk about shipping in his life and present to the audience his personal views on the regulations affecting the maritime sector, his business philosophy,  market prognosis, EU ETS,  and IMO credibility. He elaborated on the strongest and weakest points of the Cyprus Flag, the situation on the Red Sea- the havoc caused by Houthi and how their actions affect commercial shipping. Mr. Mouskas also shared his views on the effectiveness of sanctions imposed on Russia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and other key topics concerning the shipping industry,

Mr. Mouskas also shared the inspiring success story of his father, Mr. Kyriacos Mouskas’ which left the audience emotional.

When Mr. Mouskas was asked how he measures success he concluded that integrity, honesty, and respect are the core values to which he attributes his accomplishments.

The open-hearted,  engaging interview concluded at 19:30 hrs and brought further fascinating conversations among an enthusiastic audience, who explored interesting topics with Mr. G. Mouskas and continued sharing their thoughts during the dinner.