Greek Shipowners Meet for Germanischer Lloyd Hellas Technical Committee Meeting

Piraeus / Hamburg, 6 December 2005 – More than 20 technical managers of major Greek shipping companies were welcomed at the end of November by Chairman Elias Ladas, Avin International, for the Hellas Technical Committee Meeting of Germanischer Lloyd. The biannual committee meetings provide a forum for Greek customers and give the classification society Germanischer Lloyd the opportunity to present current technical topics.  GL’s Area Manager for the Mediterranean and Southern Africa, Athanasios Reisopoulos presented the latest developments of Germanischer Lloyd in area.  Recently, seven additional surveyors were hired to meet the increasing demands of the business in the area and the new station to be established in Israel next year.    Matthias Galle, Technical Manager of the Division Europe / Middle East / Africa, presented the importance of coatings for Ballast tanks protection and ways to properly assess their condition. He explained how this aspect is assessed by Germanischer Lloyd in both observing international requirements and the experience of Germanischer Lloyd to the benefit of the owners. It is particularly important to safeguard the coating protection of the hull structure and give hints for maintenance and improvement. Damage in four stroke diesel engines was the topic of Norbert Erles’, Head of Department Damage and Repair, presentation. He gave a very practical point of view of all problems owners face during a ship’s lifetime. Erles also explained the alignment of main propulsion systems of large container vessels.  Dr. John Kokarakis, Head of the Tanker & Bulker Expert Team in Piraeus, presented the consideration of vibration during the ship design phase. Dr. Kokarakis pointed out that Germanischer Lloyd is one of the pioneering class societies in solving vibration problems - not only during the design stage but also for ships in service.

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