North in the Greek Community

Community Engagement

Our charitable work includes supporting the children’s charities Smile of the Child, and the SOS village in Vari which cares for children in need as well as ARGO, which is a union supporting seafarers’ children with special needs. More recently we have supported the USCG Fund, set up to help the victims of the Greek wildfires in Mati this summer. We also participate in the 5k Posidonia run every two years; proceeds go to those in need in the municipality of Piraeus. In addition, we support the charity organisation “Oloi Mazi Boroume” by offering unused food from our social events/ receptions to be distributed to local families in need.

Anna Sarafidou, Office Manager (Greece), summarises our community engagement programme. 

We are Members of HELMEPA, the Greek marine environmental protection association, since 2006. In support of HELMEPA’s objectives to protect the marine environment we have organised beach cleaning on the island of Hydra with the support of the students at the Hydra Merchant Marine Academy. We have also participated in cleaning Varkiza Beach organized by our Members Tsakos, in conjunction with HELMEPA, as part of an International Coastal Clean-up Campaign in 2016.

Throughout the years members of our Greek Office have been actively involved in WISTA’s activities and have participated in several events, including annual dinners and P&I related panel discussions. North is also proud to support the TYPHOON Project which recently won the Sustainability Award at the Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping Awards 2020.

Supporting the future generations of Greek shipping

When you ask most people how they got into shipping the usual answer is “by accident”. Here at the Club we like to reduce the number of accidents, so we do a great deal in terms of careers education and awareness training for the next generation. We support merchant navy cadets through our Membership at Isalos.net and regularly participate in their various open days and lectures around Greece. We also sponsor the Merchant Marine Academy of Hydra, gifting an award for the best cadet and providing annual lectures. Further details on our long-standing relationship with the Merchant Marine Academy are covered in our article below. We also enjoy welcoming students from the Nautical High School of Kardamyla, Chios every year, where we provide them with a presentation introducing them to the world of P&I.

Our team receive a great number of CVs through various sources with people looking for work experience, advice and of course jobs. We genuinely try to give constructive responses to as many of these as we can, giving pointers on style and content, and directing them towards the opportunities they are after if possible. We also support Real Time Graduates which is a non-profit organisation that connects graduates from all disciplines with the shipping industry. They run a fantastic and informative blog as well as open house sessions bringing graduates into direct contact with the industry. These have seamlessly moved online during Covid-19.