Meeting of partners of the HELMEPA project on “Enhancing Maritime Safety Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean”

The Steering Committee (SC) of the 3 year-long project “Enhancing the Understanding of New and Enduring Challenges in Maritime Safety Culture in the Eastern Mediterranean”, implemented in Greece and Cyprus with the support of Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) met yesterday at HELMEPA’s offices. The Committee, which consists of Messrs. D. Mitsatsos/Director General of HELMEPA, M. Ierides/Secretary General of CYMEPA, Th. Stamatellos/South Europe Marine & Offshore Manager of Lloyd’s Register and S. Perissakis/Director of DYNAMARINe, aims mainly at optimizing the coordination of the project activities in the two countries. The meeting was also attended by Capt. I. Drakogiannopoulos, Chairman of HELMEPA’s Training Committee and RS & Q Manager/DPA-CSO of Member-company Costamare Shipping and staff of HELMEPA’s Secretariat. The Committee expressed its satisfaction on the development of the project so far and more specifically about the “Safety First” seminars, the Bridge Simulator courses, the 2 workshops organized in Salamina (Greece) and Limassol (Cyprus) as well as the design of the Voluntary Incident Reporting Platform-VIRP. Moreover, the SC discussed ideas on further boosting the project’s impact upon seafarers, fishermen, recreational boaters and others in Greece and Cyprus. (L-R) Chr. Prekezes, Executive Coordinator/HELMEPA, D. Mitsatsos, Director General/HELMEPA, C. Triantafillou, Assistant Executive Coordinator/HELMEPA, Capt. I. Drakogiannopoulos, RS&Q Manager – DPA-CSO/Costamare Shipping Co. SA, M. Ierides, Secretary General/CYMEPA, St. Perissakis, Director/DYNAMARINe, Th. Stamatellos, South Europe Marine & Offshore Manager/Lloyd’s Register