On Tuesday, July 9^th, Gazebo Mare – the new Cyprus Marine Club Limited (C.M.C.L) hosted their first Summer Get Together after successful restructuring. The President of C.M.C.L  Cyprus Marine Club Limited , Capt. Eberhard Koch, in his opening statement, before giving the floor to the speaker, Mrs. Ester Toumpouris, shared his contentment about the developments and successful developments  of the C.M.C.L.

New members were announced and warmly welcomed by the President:-

Corporate Members:  MARITEC (The Member of CTI Group), A.G. Paphitis LLC and SPANACO SHIPPING. Individual Members: Peter Locke, Barbara Locke, Tony Harfouche, Carole Reay, Nestor Negrin Marquez.  The President thanked all members for patience in the restructuring process of C.M.C.L and further announced new designations within the Board of Directors decided at the Board Meeting the same day.

Capt. Eberhard Koch – The President

Mr. Andreas Chrysostomou –Vice President

Mr. Michael Filippou – Vice President

Mr. Loucas Hamatsos – Vice President

Mr. Thrasos Tsangarides – Vice President

Mrs. Anna Vourgos- Vice President

Mrs. Julia Paczkowska- General Manager

Mr. Athos Kleanthous- Treasurer

Mr. Jan Meyering- Board Member

Mrs. Elpida Kalathia – Board Member

Mr. Lazaros Charalambos – Board Member

Mr. Sunil Kapoor- Board Member

Capt. E. Koch announced the Club’s program starting after the summer break, on September 17^th with the presentation from the Mission for Seafarers, then Wine & Dine at Ktima Gerolemo, Omodos on October 5^th and finally Right Ship Presentation in November. The New Year’s Gala date has also been set for 17^th January 2025.

The speaker of the evening Mrs. Ester Toumpouris,  delighted Guests with a presentation titled Stormy Seas Ahead: Tackling Legal and Operational Challenges of the EU ETS.

Ester is the Deputy Head of the Hill Dickinson Limassol office. Prior to joining Hill Dickinson, Ester spent 12 years with Ince & Co.  Ester specialises in dispute resolution and has wide ranging experience advising on and handling the full range of wet and dry shipping disputes including those arising under charterparties, ship management agreements, bills of lading, MOAs, shipbuilding contracts and commission agreements.

Ester has extensive experience in handling complex multi-jurisdictional litigation and regularly acts in London arbitrations and the English Courts for a broad variety of clients including shipowners, charterers, shipbrokers, operators, ship managers and P&I and Defence Clubs.

On the non contentious side, Ester is often asked to advise on the drafting of charterparty terms and related contracts, as well as drafting, reviewing and negotiating MOAs, ship management agreements, shipbuilding contracts and services agreements.

In her presentation, Ester provided a brief overview of the EU Emissions Trade Scheme and explored the operational and legal challenges that may arise as a result of this. Ester also shared strategies and advice on how these challenges may be tackled and encouraged the audience to be proactive and take steps well in advance of the September 2025 deadline for the surrendering of the emissions for 2024.

The enchanting presentation of Ester  brought on further fascinating conversations among an enthusiastic audience, who explored interesting topics with our speaker and continued sharing their thoughts during the cocktail reception.