Greek Shipping Industry Engages in Marine Protection
On 17 January 2025, OceanCare and partners hosted a successful event in Athens, at the St. Nicholas Business Club in Piraeus, bringing together key players from the Greek shipping community to address critical marine conservation challenges. The event focused on protecting marine mammals from ship strikes and underwater noise pollution, with particular emphasis on the vulnerable sperm whale population in the Hellenic Trench.
In collaboration with IFAW, the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute, WWF Greece, and the shipping company Arcadia Shipmanagement, the event showcased practical solutions, including the SAvE Whales system – an innovative tool developed and implemented by OceanCare, the Pelagos Institute, FORTH and The Green Tank with the support of the Greek government – to reduce ship strikes in areas where rerouting isn’t feasible by detecting sperm whales in real time and warning mariners about their presence.
Arcadia Shipmanagement, setting an example for the Greek maritime sector, committed to re-routing their vessels away from the Hellenic Trench and pledged to explore methods for reducing underwater radiated noise from their fleet. The company also expressed interest in piloting the SAvE Whales initiative. As Arcadia Shipmanagement HSQE and Training Manager Captain Apostolos Skempes, pointed out, “shipping uses the seas where these mammals live, but we humans don’t live there, so we should threat these creatures with respect equally and sustainably.” He invited all Shipping representatives to do their best, by consulting with the organizations who are active into the protection of marine life and join them.
Arcadia Shipmanagement CEO and Green Award Foundation Chairman, Captain Dimitrios Mattheou declared the protection of the endangered sperm whale population at the Hellenic Trench, as a challenge of profound importance. He shared the pioneering steps taken by Green Award to safeguard marine ecosystems, such as incentivizing shipping companies to take proactive measures to reduce, both ship strikes and underwater noise impacts.
The Hellenic Chamber of Shipping highlighted the importance of continued dialogue between industry and environmental organizations. The event, moderated by Nicolas Entrup of OceanCare, featured expert presentations on sperm whale conservation, ship strike mitigation measures, and underwater noise reduction strategies.
WWF Greece Marine Officer, Amalia Alberini along with OceanCare & IFAW policy advisor-shipping expert Alexandros Xydias presented a realistic approach to reduce the risk of ship strikes in the Hellenic Trench by implementing a low-risk route that can reduce the risk of deadly collisions with the endangered whale population of the Hellenic Trench.
The coalition of NGOs (IFAW, OceanCare, Pelagos Cetacean research institute and WWF Greece) actively engages with shipping stakeholders to promote rerouting a measure that have been endorsed already by major international & Greek shipping companies. “By altering their course slight westwards ships can effectively contribute to the protection of the endangered sperm whale population of the Hellenic Trench,” emphasised A.Xydias.
On behalf of the SAvE Whales project, Ioli Christopoulou, Policy Director at The Green Tank, illustrated how the vision of developing a system for the avoidance of ship strikes turns into a tangible reality. Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy, NECCA, OceanCare and The Green Tank in June 2024, the SAvE Whales system is currently being tested and upscaled in order to become fully operational in the Kythira Strait by 2028.
On behalf of IFAW, Andreas Dinkelmeyer, Campaigns manager along with OceanCare & IFAW policy advisor-shipping expert Alexandros Xydias, presented the impact of noise pollution. “Underwater noise is an underestimated pollutant and huge stressor in our ocean that has multiple negative impacts on marine life,” A. Dinkelmeyer said. “But there is an upside to this pollutant: If we stop making noise, it will be gone, no residues remain. If shipping reduces speeds, underwater noise will be reduced. We will continue to seek such positive engagement with the shipping industry as we had here to reduce the negative impact on our Ocean.”
This successful gathering marks an important step in building partnerships between conservation groups and the shipping industry to protect marine life in Greek waters through feasible, practical, and industry-supported solutions.
