A greener and sustainable planet is for Tsakos Group a non-negotiable promise. How does the Group all these years support this idea and what are your plans for the years to come in order for Greece to preserve its leading role as a global maritime force?
Having been with the Tsakos Group for 34 years, I can confirm the topic of ‘Environment’ has been of particular interest and together with the health and safety of our seafarers, remains top of our priority list.
Capt. Panagiotis Tsakos and Nikolas P. Tsakos demonstrated an early interest in the subject and take every opportunity to highlight it at an international level.
The ships of our fleet are ambassadors of this spirit. We want clean seas and clean ships! Although shipping has the least ‘participation’ and responsibility towards environmental pollu- tion, the Tsakos Group has, and continues, to support every attempt to reach the goal of ‘green shipping’.
We are one of the first shipping companies to believe the reduction of emission of pollutants
is a matter of high priority - a message we pass onto our seafarers and the younger generation planning to pursue a career in shipping.
Within Greek shipping, the issue of ‘protection of the sea’ holds a prominent position and the Greek shipping community was the first in the world to express their concern about the environ- ment.
The creation of HELMEPA, by the late G.P. Livanos in 1983, took place at a time when the word ‘environment’ was never discussed even as an idea!
When he was Chairman of HELMEPA and INTERTANKO, Nikolas Tsakos was able to fully support the position through his conviction and the principles of the Tsakos Group towards the protection of the environment.
Without doubt, Greek Commercial Shipping, the biggest shipping strength in the world, and by extension Greece, can and will continue to have a significant role in the efforts to reduce the emission of pollutants.
These efforts will continue to be one of the basic principles of the Tsakos Group.
We hope to be the first to reach ‘zero’, as we were the first to reach ‘excellent’!!
* PA to Nikolas P. Tsakos, TENN
The answer was provided for NAFS magazine issue 143 in its special report “WOMEN in SHEPPING”