Harry N. Vafias, managing director of Vafias Group, won the EY “Entrepreneur of the Year” Greece 2025 award, in a ceremony organized by EY Greece on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, at the Megaron – the Athens Concert Hall, with Alpha Bank as platinum sponsor.
The event was attended, among others, by the Greek deputy prime minister, Kostis Hatzidakis, and leading figures from the political, business and academic world, who, with their presence, honoured the creative and innovative Greek entrepreneurship that is confidently shaping the future.
Haris Vafias will represent Greece at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ global competition in Monte Carlo in May 2026.
Earlier this year Mr. Vafias won the “Dynamically Growing Entrepreneur” category of the EY competition, Greek “Entrepreneur of the Year” 2025.
The award recognizes the dynamic course of the shipping group, which has evolved into one of the strong players in the international market.
The winner stated upon receiving the grand prize: “I am moved by this honor. Hard work, Chios DNA and lack of fear have brought me to this point, something I would never have imagined when I started in 2001.”
Vafias, through his publicly listed shipping companies, maintains a strong presence in the international maritime sector.
In a fiercely competitive field, such as shipping, Vafias, from a young age, managed to chart his own course, starting in 2000 with a vision and two old tankers.
Despite his young age, he managed to list StealthGas to the Nasdaq index in 2005 and was awarded as the youngest entrepreneur of a listed shipping company.
Today, the Group comprises six shipping companies – three of which are listed – without bank lending, with a fleet of more than 100 ships and a total value of close to $3.5 billion.
The Group continues to dynamically expand the fleet, with continuous investment in modern ships from leading shipyards in Japan and Korea.
Few words about Harry Vafias
Harry N. Vafias has been the president and chief executive officer and a member of StealthGas Inc board of directors since the company’s inception in December 2004 and the chief financial officer since January 2014. Mr. Vafias has been actively involved in the tanker and gas shipping industry since 1999.
He is also chief executive officer and chairman of Imperial Petroleum Inc. following its spin-off from the Company and Nasdaq listing in December 2021, and the non-executive chairman of C3is Inc. following its spin-off from Imperial Petroleum and Nasdaq listing in June 2023.
Mr. Vafias worked at Seascope, a ship brokering firm specializing in sale and purchase of vessels and chartering of oil tankers. He also worked at Braemar, a ship brokering firm, where he gained extensive experience in tanker and dry cargo chartering. Seascope and Braemar merged in 2001 to form Braemar Seascope Group plc, a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange and one of the world’s largest ship brokering and shipping service groups.
From 2000 until 2004, he worked at Brave Maritime and Stealth Maritime, companies providing comprehensive ship management services, where he headed the operations and chartering departments of Stealth Maritime and served as manager for the sale and purchase departments of both Brave Maritime and Stealth Maritime.
Vafias graduated from City University Business School in the City of London in 1999 with a B.A. in Management Science and from Metropolitan University in 2000 with a Masters degree in Shipping, Trade and Transport.
