The President of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), Melina Travlos, and the Union’s Board of Directors welcomed at the offices of the Union in Piraeus the new Minister of Shipping and Island Policy of Greece, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis.

The Minister attended the meeting of the board of directors of the UGS, during which there was an exchange of views on shipping issues at national, European and international levels.

The Greek politician Miltiadis Varvitsiotis took over the helm of the Ministry of Shipping in Greece after the recent elections in Greece. Mr. Varvitsiotis returns to the ministry of shipping and will have to work again with familiar faces in the field of shipping and the Hellenic Coast Guard. The first time he served as Minister of Shipping was in June 2013 and stayed in this position until January 2015.

The new elected Minister will face a series of challenges as the bet for the new government is the strengthening of the island policy, and to strengthen the Greek flag and its global leading role.

After the meeting with the president of the union the newly elected minister said: “I was happy to be at the offices of the Union of Greek Shipowners today. I thank the President Melina Travlou and all the members of the board of directors for the warm welcome. Our goal is for Greek Shipping to become even more competitive, to strengthen the Greek flag and its global leading role.”

 With a history of more than a hundred years, the Union of Greek Shipowners represents Greek-owned commercial vessels over 3,000 gt under the Greek flag and other flags.

The Union of Greek Shipowners is the institutional representing body and “home” of the Greek shipping community, promoting the interests of Greek shipping around the world.