Greek shipping industry leaders gathered to discuss cutting edge technologies that will shape the future of maritime at the 11th ABS Hellenic Technical Committee meeting held on Thursday, November 30 at the prestigious Spiros Loverdos Foundation Library in Kifissia, Athens with more than 45 distinguished executive members.
This technical meeting dubbed by its chairman, Dr. Chris Leontopoulos, as “back-to-basics” during his introduction, focused on examining the technological advancements in vessel surveys. ABS and guest speakers joined forces in demonstrating the potential of Remote Inspections Technologies, such as UAVs (drones) for carrying out vessel surveys. DIAPLOUS group presented that, for the first time, it is now possible to receive steal thickness measurements from a drone on demand. This was demonstrated by a prototype drone, flying in the great room, measuring the thickness of various sample plates to more than acceptable accuracy. ABS’s Senior Principal Surveyor, Mr. Costas Xydis focused on advanced repair methods, while after the coffee break, Mr. Vassilios Papakonstantinou and Mr. Harilaos Petrakakos provided an enlightening presentation on the state of affairs in Artificial Intelligence and green Nuclear Power.
Among the distinguished speakers at the meeting were:
- Dr. Chris Leontopoulos, ABS Vice President, Global Ship Systems Center
- Dr. Elias Kariambas, ABS Vice President, Regional Business Development
- Mr. Evangelos Tzitzis, Unmanned Systems Manager, DIAPLOUS group
- Mr. Costas Xidis, ABS Senior Principal Surveyor
- Mr. Vassilis Papakonstantinou, Managing Partner, P Square Ventures & Head of Technology, Blue Dome Capital
- Mr. Harilaos Petrakakos, SNAME Chairman Panel M48 Nuclear Power for Merchant Shipping
The meeting concluded with a dinner in the adjacent rooms of the Library house.