Panos Zachariadis, a mechanical engineer and naval architect who serves as technical director of Atlantic Bulk Carriers Management Ltd, joins Antonis Karagiannakis on Voice of Greece’s “Fair Winds and Following Seas – Saturday Shift.”
Zachariadis sits on the board of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping and serves on committees of BIMCO and the Union of Greek Shipowners. He has represented Greece at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for many years.
The conversation turns to alternative fuels and whether they can be considered green. Zachariadis says it remains unclear which fuel will power ships in the future. “All the alternative fuels under discussion must be produced using renewable energy to be carbon-free,” he says. “The quantities needed will not be available for many years. In other words, there are no green fuels, and there won’t be any.”
He also questions the attention focused on shipping in the debate over alternative fuels, saying that ships account for “slightly less than 3% of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Zachariadis shares stories from his early days aboard ships and reflects on his career, shipyards, the state of shipping today, and his love of the sea. “The sea is in my DNA. My grandparents came from Kasos, Symi, Kalymnos, and Cyprus. The sea means everything to me. I can’t live without seeing it,” he says.
Produced and presented by Antonis Karagiannakis