BY Shivani
Melina Travlos was unanimously elected as the president of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS) on 10th February. She is the first woman to lead the Greek Shipowners in 150-years of history, and will lead for next three years. Her election reflects the fundamental changes underway in the of world of biggest shipowning nation.
Travlos, 55, takes over for Theorore Veniamis, who has led the union for four terms. She has long been a prominent member of the UGS, serving as one of the two secretaries on the previous UGS board and being mentioned as a possible President as recently as last summer. She has been in the industry since her adolescence, working for the car carrier company Neptune Lines, which was founded by her late father Nikos.
Travlos’ election exemplifies a recent trend in which shipowners and other leaders in the Greek cluster have begun to encourage their daughters to take an active role in companies founded by their fathers and then in industry bodies.
Travlos said of her election: “I’d like to thank everyone who voted for me to be the president of the Hellenic Shipowners’ Association. Everyone’s trust fills me with pride, but more importantly with humility, respect, and responsibility for my mission. I would like to express my gratitude to our outgoing president, Theodoros Veniamis, for his long-term, consistent, multi-level, and internationally recognised contribution to Greek shipping and its social footprint through Syn-Union.”
“We have a lot of big challenges ahead of us.” We move forward as a group, focused on our goal. A national goal, a global goal: defending Greek shipping’s achievements.”
