Young students aged 10–25 discover shipping and commit to Healthy Oceans

350 students from all levels of education - primary, secondary, and university students - took part in this year’s Blue Horizons: Shipping for the New Generation, organised for the 4th consecutive year by the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association (HELMEPA) and the Yacht Club of Greece (YCG) on 27 February 2026. It was a unique learning experience dedicated to careers at sea and ocean health.

What makes Blue Horizons special is that it gives young people the role of coordinators and protagonists. They contribute to the preparation, take the stage, ask questions, share views and concerns, and receive on-the-spot mentoring from professionals with real experience in shipping and the Blue Economy.

In particular, during the interactive mentoring panel, the participants had the opportunity to ask personal questions to representatives of the Blue Economy about their career paths. Answers were shared immediately through lived experience, offering inspiration, ideas and practical advice from the following Mentors/Speakers (in alphabetical order):

• Spiros Apostolopoulos, Director – Marine Broker, Eurorisk SA & HELMEPA Board Member

• George Kallianis, HELMEPA Board Member

• Capt. Konstantinos Kanellopoulos, Managing Director, Nereus Shipping SA

• Harrys Kosmatos, Co-CFO, TEN, Ltd

• Alkistis Kyriakopoulou, Chief Business Officer, DeepSea Technologies

• Chrysanthi Stefanou, CEO, Golden Star Ferries & Alternate HELMEPA Board Member

• Stamatis Fradelos, Vice President Regulatory Affairs, ABS

A notable element of this year’s event was the panel moderation by Sotiris Salamouris and Vasilis Petropoulos, 1st Grade Lyceum students and founders of the DM Club (Direct Mentoring Club), an initiative created by students, for students. Key topics included the skills that support a successful career in shipping, the educational background needed to enter the job market, demand for maritime professions, and the reality of daily work in the sector.

HELMEPA Chairperson Semiramis Paliou delivered the opening speech to the audience, and primary school students took the floor, asked questions, sang, and enthusiastically highlighed HELMEPA Seagull’s message: “NO GARBAGE, NO PLASTICS IN SEAS AND ON BEACHES.”

This was followed by an interactive presentation on marine pollution by HELMEPA’s New Generation Manager, Dimitris Kazas, and then the hands-on STEAM workshop “How Waste Becomes Robots” delivered by Mariliza Pontikou-Lignou, Founder & CEO of the Children’s Institute of Technology.

In the second session, welcoming lower and upper secondary students and university students, opening remarks were delivered by Konstantinos Malliaris, HN Captain (ret.) and YCG Board Member. The program continued with an interactive Ocean Literacy and soft skills workshop, coordinated by HELMEPA Director General Olga Stavropoulou and HELMEPA Head of Environmental Affairs, Stathis Kostakopoulos.

The program was oprganized with the support of Aegeas, Bureau Veritas, Costamare, DNV, Dynacom, Istia Maritime, Marichem-Marigases, Target Group, Blue Cycle, and in collaboration with Isalos.net, Project Connect, and the initiatives eSgEA BLUE DAYS, METAVASEA, EXCEED, Next Blue Generation, Nauticinblu.