Top Honorary Distinction for the NKUA’s Department of Port Management and Shipping: 1st Best Conference Paper Award, IAME International Conference 2023, USA

IAME International Conference 2023, Long Beach, California, USA

The leading international Conference of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) was held recently (5-8 September 2023) in Long Beach, California, USA, under the auspices of the METRANS Transportation Consortium (University of Southern California and California State University Long Beach). With the central theme ‘New Realities in the Global Maritime Economy’ the ΙΑΜΕ Conference attracted numerous academic, research, and corporate participants from across over 30 countries.

Throughout the Conference, participants presented research papers on a wide range of fields, such as management of shipping companies, port management, governance and politics, blue growth and sustainability, green investments and funding, the supply chain and combined transports, technological developments and computer applications, energy and products, geopolitical developments, international institutions, and economic development.

Top Award for the Department of Port Management and Shipping: 1^st Best Conference Paper Award ΙΑΜΕ 2023

The NKUA’s Department of Port Management and Shipping had a vigorous research representation at the IAME International Conference 2023 with the following papers:

• ‘ESG Reporting Quality Assessment in Listed Shipping Companies’,

Syriopoulos Theodoros, Tsatsaronis Michael, Karamperidis Stavros, Boura Georgia, Dimopoulos Argyris.

• ‘Measuring Uncertainty in Shipping’,

Syriopoulos Theodoros, Roumpis Efthymios, Tsatsaronis Michael, Giannopoulou-Merika Anna.

• ‘Revisiting Ship-Recycling in a Changing Shipping Industry’,

Syriopoulos Theodoros,Merikas Andreas, Merika Xakousti-Afroditi.

• ‘Port Adaptation to Climate Change: A Methodological Framework’,

Vaggelas George, Karditsa Katerina, Roumpis Efthymios.

• ‘Estimating the Economic Impact of Cruises at Ports and Destinations: Evidence From Greece,

Vaggelas George, Pallis Thanos.

The scientific paper entitled ‘ESG Reporting Quality Assessment in Listed Shipping Companies’ was presented at the IAME International Conference 2023 by Mr Theodoros Syriopoulos, Professor of Shipping Finance and Chair at the NKUA’s Department of Port Management and Shipping. The paper received positive comments and rapt scientific attention for its originality and applicability to a highly topical issue for the broader shipping market. Also participating in the international team that wrote the research paper were—from the NKUA’s Department of Port Management and Shipping—Mr Michael Tsatsaronis, Assistant Professor of Quantitative Methods in Shipping, Ms Georgia Boura, a PhD candidate in Shipping Finance, and Mr Argyris Dimopoulos, a graduate of the Department, and—from Plymouth Business School, UK—Mr Stavros Karamperidis, Assistant Professor of Maritime Economics and Head of the Maritime Transport Research Group.

The paper summarizes the empirical findings of a three-year applied research project on sustainability issues of shipping and port companies, focusing on assessing and evaluating the grade to which good ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices are adhered to. The innovative methodological framework and the first-ever proposed ESG Index, a benchmarking index for corporate ESG strategies, take account of the specificities and characteristics of the shipping market. Primarily, the ESG Index incorporates the evaluative judgements made by top shipping experts on critical mechanisms for capturing ESG practices. The study uses a sample of shipping and port companies listed and traded on international stock markets (NYSE, NASDAQ, London, Oslo, Shanghai) to provide an integrated framework for consolidated reporting of ESG practices and the sustainability performance of companies. That enables transparent comparability and the scoring of companies and provides a powerful modern tool for all stakeholders in the shipping market (shipping companies, charterers, financiers, fuel companies, ports, shipbrokers, etc.) to build effective management strategies.

The Scientific Committee of the Conference reviewed the above paper and gave it the top honorary distinction of the 1^st Best Conference Paper Award against numerous other high-quality scientific papers.

It is important to note that MEL (Maritime Economics & Logistics), a well-established journal edited by Professor Hercules Haralambides, awarded the paper with the honorary ‘Palgrave-Macmillan-Springer Prize’ and undertook to publish it in one of its following issues, thus continuing a long-standing tradition of supporting the IAME International Conferences.

The International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) was founded in 1992 and currently boasts over 500 individual academic members from all continents and more than 20 corporate members. Over the years, IAME has established itself as a leading think tank for international shipping, ports, the supply chain, transports, and international trade. Various academic, research, and other organizations worldwide host the Association’s annual International Conferences. IAME maintains close ties with several international organizations, including the UN’s UNCTAD and IMO.

Valencia, Spain, will host the next IAME International Conference from 24 to 26 June 2024.