HIGH IMPACT NETWORKING EVENT

• A unique experience where keynote presentations, interviews, and panel discussions seamlessly blend with workshops, and networking breaks.

• A gathering of top shipping executives where exclusive networking opportunities abound.

• An interactive conference featuring innovative, insightful, and thought-provoking content.

Despina Travlou
Managing Director, Slide2Open Communications
Maritime Ambassador, IEEE Standards Association

Organizer’s Editorial
“For years, the shipping industry has been pressured to lead the green transition, responding with investment readiness and strategic resolve. Today, we face a paradox: while shipowners have shown a clear willingness to cooperate on sustainable solutions, the surrounding ecosystem, from regulators to energy producers, is now pausing to consider the inherent difficulties in implementing stringent guidelines and deadlines. At the 9th Slide2Open Shipping Finance Conference, we shift the narrative. Our goal is not just to discuss what shipping must do next, but how the entire ‘Nexus’ can urgently converge to provide the clarity required for global trade to thrive. Shipping has stepped up; now, the ecosystem must align.”

Overview
Shipping is the backbone of global trade, yet it currently faces a strategic impasse. After years of building consensus around ambitious climate goals, the late 2025 postponement of the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework has created a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to approach the transition with renewed realism.

This pause, while offering a moment for reflection, presents significant challenges. Shipowners are called to commit billions to newbuildings and propulsion systems amidst a fluctuating regulatory roadmap and an evolving fuel supply chain. Simultaneously, geopolitical shifts and longer trade routes are driving up operational costs, contributing to global inflationary pressures, and tightening tonnage supply.

Shipping is not diverging from its commitments; rather, the entire ecosystem is being challenged. The 9th Slide2Open Shipping Finance Conference serves as a catalyst for this essential alignment. We bring together shipowners, charterers, financiers, policymakers, shipyards, port authorities, classification societies, and technology leaders to bridge the gap between regulatory uncertainty and commercial reality. Our mission is to foster the renewed dialogue necessary to ensure shipping remains resilient, affordable, and climate-aligned.

This is where urgency meets leadership
and where the next phase of maritime strategy takes shape.

Key Discussion Topics
The Cost of Inaction: Examining how regulatory pauses and technological development lags impact global inflation and market volatility.
The Post-IMO Landscape: Navigating the interplay between regional mandates (EU ETS/FuelEU) and global policy shifts.
The Investment Dilemma: Hedging risks in newbuildings when the “fuels of tomorrow” and the required technologies are still catching up with regulatory demands.
Capital Influx: How financiers and investors view transition risk in a period of deferred regulatory enforcement.
Geopolitics & Supply Chains: The impact of rerouting and “fragmented seas” on fleet deployment and freight rates.
Infrastructure & Energy Hubs: Ensuring ports and fuel suppliers can match the industry’s required pace of investment.
Restoring Convergence: A roadmap for aligning policy, technology, and capital to de-risk the maritime energy transition.

Register now! Join us as we lead the way and let’s shape the future of Shipping together!

Read More:

ADVISORY BOARD
Chairman

Leonidas Dimitriadis-Eugenides
Chairman of the Advisory Board – Speaker
IMO Ambassador in Greece
President of Eugenides Foundation

George Sp. Alexandratos
Keynote Speaker
General Manager
Apollonia Lines SA
President
Hellenic Chamber of Shipping

Dr Dimitrios J. Fafalios
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
President/Director, Fafalios Shipping SA; Secretary of the BoD, Union of Greek Shipowners; Honorary Chairman, Intercargo

Prof. Ioannis Golias
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
Governor of Eugenides Foundation
Emeritus Professor, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)

Prof. Dr Ing. Konstantinos Karachalios
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
Special Advisor to the CEO and former Managing Director of IEEE Standards Association

Dr George D. Pateras
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
Deputy Chairman, Contships Management Inc., f. President of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping

Prof. John Prousalidis
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
Professor, ΝTUA; Head of the Industrial Connection Activity Sustainable Maritime of ΙΕΕΕ; Chairman of IMarEST MESIG

SPEAKERS
Conference Chairs

Yuri Bender
Conference Co-Chair
Editor-in-Chief, PWM @ Financial Times
Regular contributor to FTfm of the FT newspaper

Leonidas Dimitriadis-Eugenides
Chairman of the Advisory Board – Speaker
IMO Ambassador in Greece
President of Eugenides Foundation

Angelos Roupas Pantaleon
Conference Co-Chair
Greek Representative, EUROMAR; Founder, Second Wind & Partners
Institutional & Government Representatives

George Sp. Alexandratos
Keynote Speaker
General Manager
Apollonia Lines SA
President
Hellenic Chamber of Shipping
Keynote Speakers

Dr Arnab Das
Keynote Speaker
Global Economic Counsellor & Macro Strategist

Chris Goldsworthy
Keynote Speaker
Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST)

Evgenia Goti Koukoumaki
Keynote Speaker
Global Head of Wealth Planning at EFG Bank

Edmund Shing
Keynote Speaker
Global Chief Investment Officer, BNP Paribas Wealth Management

Dr Tristan Smith
Keynote Speaker
Associate Professor in Energy and Transport at University College London (UCL); IMO expert on maritime decarbonisation

Dr Louise Tumchewics
Keynote Speaker
Research Fellow, Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark / Visiting Research Fellow, King’s College London / Assistant Professor, Rabdan Academy
Speakers

Elisabeth Calbari
Speaker
Neuropsychologist, Executive Leadership Consultant
Founder, Self Balance

Alexandros Damianidis
Speaker
Partner, Assets & Structured Finance Group, Watson Farley & Williams

Prof. Ioannis Golias
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
Governor of Eugenides Foundation
Emeritus Professor, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA)

Fernando Kalligas
Speaker
Corporate Affairs, ESG & Communication Senior Director, DESFA SA

Panagiotis Korakas
Moderator
Head of Cultural Heritage and Blue Synergies
Naftika Chronika & Isalos.net

George Laios
Moderator
Vice President B’
Association of Banking & Finance Executives of Hellenic Shipping
Deputy CEO, Intermodal Group

Vangelis S Marinakis
Speaker
COO at Island Oil Ltd
Managing Director at Prodromos Shipping

Konstantinos Oikonomou
Speaker
CEO
Marine Tours Group of Companies

Vasileios G. Petousis
Speaker
Energy & Sustainability Manager, Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corporation

Rebecca Pitsika
Speaker
Founder & CEO, We R

Prof. John Prousalidis
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
Professor, ΝTUA; Head of the Industrial Connection Activity Sustainable Maritime of ΙΕΕΕ; Chairman of IMarEST MESIG

Alpesh Shah
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
Managing Director, IEEE SA Standards Association

Rudi Schubert
Advisory Board Member – Speaker
Director – New Initiatives at IEEE Standards Association

Τheocharis Terzis
Speaker
Director, Queensway Navigation Co. Ltd
CEO, Vsltec

Despina Travlou
Organizer
IEEE Standards Association Maritime Ambassador
Managing Director, Slide2Open Communications

Dora Tsiourva
Speaker
Researcher in the School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the NTUA; Member of the International Ship Structure Committee

Alasdair Wishart
Speaker
Technical & Policy Director, IMarEST