Capt. Dimitrios Mattheou, Chairman, Green Award Foundation, discusses about the core priorities in Green Award’s agenda for tackling the latest environmental challenges and calls for all industry stakeholders to continue to adopt “Greener” practices aiming for a sustainable future of shipping. Capt. Mattheou says that the success of the initiative could be attributed to its support for effective collaboration towards industry stakeholders.
GREEN4SEA: You received the GREEN4SEA Personality Award for your overall contribution to the Green Award Scheme since being appointed as Chairman. What does the award mean to you?
Dimitrios Mattheou: I am truly honored to receive the GREEN4SEA Personality Award, for which I would like to thank GREEN4SEA. This award reflects all my efforts since I was appointed Chairman of the GREEN AWARD organization on December 2015. Since then, I have dedicated myself to contributing towards safety and environmental protection as well as spreading the vision of Green Award and I feel that with this award all my efforts have paid off.
G4S: What have been your key achievements since taking the helm as Chairman?
D.M.: Since I was offered the honorable position of the Chairman of the GREEN AWARD organization, many shipping companies and numerous industry-related organizations have become members. All participants support each other through the scheme, working towards sustainable, safe and environmentally-friendly shipping, a joint action of great importance for the future of the sector.
G4S: Looking towards the next 12 months, what will be your core priorities as Chairman to tackling the environmental challenges around the shipping sector?
D.M.: Nowadays, new regulations in shipping, the need for reduction of emissions and environmental protection are issues that all stakeholders of the industry are confronted with. We will continue to develop the values and ideas that shape environmental excellence by implementing effective management systems. Among our main priorities is the responsible approach towards “Greener” shipping to be developed further and even more ships, ports and other parties to join the Green Award Scheme.
G4S: How happy are you with the market acceptance of Green Award scheme so far? Do you anticipate any new market/segment to operate in the forthcoming years?
D.M.: I am really contented to see that the Green Award Foundation has grown into the quality mark that enjoys international recognition and support from major maritime organizations and maritime community, as the solution to improve standards in shipping. We at Green Award, look to the future with optimism and hope that more organizations will join the Scheme, so that more segments of the shipping industry can contribute to this effort towards improving safety and environmental performance.
G4S: Where do you feel Green Award’s success can be attributed to, from your perspective? What makes this initiative so special?
D.M.: Maritime industry knows quite a few initiatives which aim their activities at mitigating environmental impact and attempt to improve overall safety and quality of shipping. The Green Award scheme stands for holistic approach to safety, quality and environmental protection. Green Award is a world-wide recognized quality mark within the shipping industry that offers tools for improvement as well to ships and their managers as to ports and other industry stakeholders. Ship managers, ports, maritime service providers and charterers work together through Green Award for the best results to benefit safety, to ensure quality and to achieve environmental excellence. Their collaboration is what makes Green Award a special initiative.
G4S: What is your key message to the industry stakeholders with respect to green and sustainable shipping?
D.M.: In our days, where regulations concerning shipping focus on environmental protection and sustainability, it is of the utmost importance that industry stakeholders are aiming towards that direction. Green Award will continue its work in supporting ships and managers, who are ahead of established standards, and encourages them for continued commitment to sustainability. We believe that participating members can benefit from sharing knowledge and learning about the optimal ways of implementation of the best practices, while the rewards and incentives provided through the Green Award give the necessary impetus for excellence. Finally, we encourage all industry stakeholders to continue to adopt “Greener” shipping practices aiming for a better future of the shipping industry.
Explore more about the 2017 GREEN4SEA Awards here The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of GREEN4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only. 
