The history of DNV in Greece.pdf - Det Norske Veritas

85 years
The history of DNV in Greece – 1921–2006

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85 years of active presence in Greece
The Norwegian Classification Society Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
was founded in 1864 with headquarters in Christiania (today’s
Oslo) after joint agreement between insurers of six different
clubs. Initially ten Surveyors manned the team of the Classification
Society in Oslo; the first office outside Norway was established
in London in 1873.
From 1870 until the end of the 1st World War in 1918, the
Norwegian fleet classed by DNV suffered drastic changes. Sailing
ships were replaced by steamships. In this period considerable
cargo was carried in Norwegian ships, at first in North Europe
and North America and gradually in the Mediterranean and
Black Sea, in South America and the West Indies. After the end
of the 1st World War, and with 50% of the Norwegian commercial
fleet destroyed (1.2 mill.grt), Norwegian shipowners started
buying secondhand ships and placing orders for new construction,
iron and steel in replacement of the wooden ships. Cargo
shipping re-started after the war – mostly light cargoes in the
Mediterranean, in ships which were gradually equipped with
diesel propulsion.
With the first Norwegian ships appearing in the East
Mediterranean, on 6 October 1919 an application was submitted
to the central offices of DNV in Oslo by I. Chandris for representation
of DNV in Greece. Due to the small number of ships
with DNV in the area of the East Mediterranean the decision was
postponed. But demand increased gradually and within two

Ioannis Kourmatzis
Senior Vice President
Maritime South Europe
Nikolaos Boussounis
Vice President
Maritime East Mediterranean
DNV Piraeus
DNV Head Office in Oslo.
In 2006 DNV is major class service
provider to the Greek shipping industry.
DNV’s market share of the Greek order
book is more than 30%.
years, on 16 August 1921, the Board of Directors at the Head
Office of DNV decided to create a representative office of DNV
in Greece and appoint a Danish shipbroker, W. Wellis, with
offices in The Cunard Building at 4, Sotiros St. in Piraeus. It is
now that the history of DNV starts in Greece. Three years later
in 1924 Mr Wellis leaves Greece due to health problems and is
replaced by Robert G. Knox, whose term of office as representative
of DNV is even shorter. A few months later, Mr Knox resigns
since he is undertaking service in another company. It is then
that the Board of Directors of DNV hires as his successor at the
end of 1924 the first Greek representative of DNV, Tasos Hatzifotiou.
Mr Hatzifotiou was born on 25 February 1885 on Syros
Island and graduated in Marine Engineering in Manchester and
Middlesbrough, England. In 1906 he returns to Greece and for
a decade he travels with various cargo vessels in Greece, until
1916 when he receives his ticket as 1st Engineer. In 1917 he
takes the position of Assistant Technical Manager at the repair
yard in Syros, responsible for the repair of 600 ships of the
British Navy during the 1st World War and until 1919. After the
closing of the shipyard he takes the position of Superintendent
in the shipping company Iosifoglou Brothers in Piraeus, a company
with steam-powered oil tankers.
From February 1921 until 1924 he works as consultant with
Robert G. Knox, engaged in ship surveys and as technical
expert. He remains a representative of DNV for 34 years until
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The first Greek ship to DNV class, the tanker “Spiros” built in 1928.
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1958, when he retires from active service as a non-exclusive surveyor
to DNV.
On 18 January 1958 the Directors appoint Filipos Pittas, originally
from Alexandria, Egypt, as a representative of DNV.
Born to Greek parents in Alexandria, Pittas was a distinguished
member of the Greek community in Egypt. He graduated
as Marine Engineer and Naval Architect from the University
of Durham in England in 1931, the only graduate that year.
After a short sea-going service he returns to Egypt in 1931 and
resumes position of Technical Manager at the Shipyards of
Zacharis in Alexandria, contributing among other things to the
repair of allied forces’ naval ships during the 2nd World War.
For this contribution he receives a medal from the British Ministry
of Defence after the war.
After the revolution in Egypt and the mass evacuation of
Greek Egyptians, Pittas moves to Athens in 1958. There he
begins to build up the future of DNV working at the same time
as a technical consultant for the Salvage Association and American
underwriters. The period after 1944 is characterised by the
effort of Greek shipowners to rebuild the Greek fleet, 75% of
which were destroyed during the war. A good start is made by
the grant of one hundred Liberty ships, given by the American
Government to Greece as part of a restoration programme in
support of damage which Greece suffered during the War.
During the period 1950–60, Greek shipowners are active in
secondhand ship purchases, most of which are from Scandina-

The first Greek Newbuilding to
DNV Class: Bulk Carrier “Spyros A.
Lemos”, built 11/1968.
vian owners and already to DNV class. At first most of the ships
change class but gradually and thanks to the dynamic presence
of DNV and Filipos Pittas in Piraeus, Greek shipowners are
becoming familiar with DNV and gradually retain the original
class.
The first Greek ship which appears in the Register of DNV is
the tanker Spiros which was bought by Ioannis Latsis Ltd. in
1958. In 1959 the Greek Mediterranean Lines (Elmes) buys the
general cargo ships Massalia and Thiseas both with DNV class,
and shipowners such as M. Karagiorgis, M. Goulandris, A. G.
Papadakis, Pateras and others become DNV clients in the early
1960s.
In November 1968 Captain N. Lemos from AVRA MAR-
ITIME builds at Uddevalla Sweden, the first Greek vessel to DNV
Class. This is a 55000 KDWT Bulk Carrier, trading for 28 years
before demolition.
In 1965 Pittas appoints as secretary Mrs Lena Petropoulou
(later Olympiou) and two years later in 1967 as a technical assistant
I. Mihalelis. Pantelis Karavidas is an office assistant until he
retires in 1971. In 1971 with the three above as the core of
DNV’s office, and with the rapid increase in work for DNV in
Greece, the Directors decide to change the status of the office
from representative to exclusive. DNV Piraeus joins the network
of exclusive offices of the Classification Society with Pittas as
chief representative. In the meantime the office changes location
from its original location since 1958, at 2, Emmanouel
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Repouti St. to 102 Pipinou St. in Athens, and in 1967 to the
premises of Laiki Bank in Piraeus (Vatis Building). In 1969 the
office, now the first exclusive office of DNV, is relocated to 9,
Sotiros St., Piraeus, and in August 1971 a Norwegian surveyor,
Hans Viig, arrives as a trainee and stays for three years until the
summer of 1974. Viig is the first Norwegian Surveyor in Greece;
he is a third generation employee from the Viig family working
for DNV. Together with his father and grandfather the Viig family
has served DNV for more than 120 years.
In 1973, thanks to Pittas’ initiative and with the continuous
growth of shipowners using DNV as their Classification Society,
the first Greek Committee of DNV is established. Chairman of
the committee is the shipowner Costas M. Lemos, retaining this
position for 18 years. The same year the first Greek trainee surveyor,
Sofoclis Digenis, is added to the personnel of the office in
Greece after completion of his training period in Oslo and
Cadiz in Spain. In 1974 Hans Viig departs for Hong Kong and is
replaced by the Norwegian T. H. Hansen who remains in Greece
for only one year. After his departure in 1975 another Greek
surveyor is hired, Vasilis Karagiannis.
The construction of large cargo vessels for international service
began in Greece in 1960, with World Hope owned by Niarchos.
This is the first vessel built at Skaramanga Shipyard. 15
years later in 1975, DNV is called to supervise for the first time
the construction of a cargo ship in Greece according to its rules.
This ship is constructed at the United Shipyards in Perama P & I,

Nauticus on board delivers the right
information to shipowners and managers
at the right time, anywhere.
The Greek DNV team, from left
A. Efstathiou, C. Vlachiotis, N. Boussounis,
A. Pagalos, L. Isaias, I. Kourmatzis and J. Kouthouris.
and is a general cargo, open-hatch ship named Frendo United.
At the end of this year, after a successful professional career as
consultant and as a DNV representative for 17 years, Pittas leaves
his position. DNV’s administration decides then to upgrade
Piraeus to a regional office, responsible for Greece and Cyprus,
with its first Regional Manager, Theodor Wilse.
Wilse was born in 1918 and lived an eventful and colourful
life. At the age of eight he moved to China where his father
lived for 29 years. During the years from 1926 to 1929 he found
himself in the middle of the Chinese Revolution and his family
was rescued by English and American ships which protected the
Europeans at Pei Ta Ho from the battles between Tsan Kai
Sheck and the northern army of Tsang Sho Ling. Wilse graduated
in 1943 as Naval Architect and Mechanical Engineer from
Trondheim and worked on whalers, as a welder and as technician
at shipyards before joining DNV. He became well-known in
1975 when he was elected as a member of a tribunal to conduct
investigations as an expert on the loss of large vessels such as
Berge Istra and Betelgeuse. Wilse was a good manager, a good
man but above all a great “Fillelinas”.
The mid-1970s is the period when DNV decides to become
international and to enter markets outside of the traditional borders
of Scandinavia. As a first step DNV establishes a systematic
training programme for young graduates from countries with
great naval traditions, such as Greece. This two-year education
programme takes place in Oslo, Norway which in those days was
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considered (and was) a remote corner of Europe.
In the two following years, 1974–76, four graduates are hired
from colleges and universities, Christos Barakos, Alexandros Kyriazis,
Nikos Liapis, and Ioannis Kourmatzis. All (except Liapis,
who is deceased) are still employees in DNV today. In 1977 the
offices of the Classification Society are transferred for one more
time to 5–7, Fillelinon St. in Piraeus, and with the return of the
trainees, the number of employees grows to ten – eight technical
and two secretaries.
In the early 1980s, administrative decentralisation takes place
and five new divisions are created, with Europe being one of
those. Stein T. Verle is the divisional head for Europe. He is an
energetic, dynamic and foresighted manager who sees immediately
the possibilities for further expansion in the Greek market.
With his initiative, a service centre is established offering technical
consultancy services and customer services for Greek
shipowners, besides the traditional classification services offered
by DNV. For this reason in 1980–81 six new surveyors/trainees
are hired: G. Demos, N. Boussounis, D. Protopsaltis, H. Vlachodimitris,
M. Lavidas and C. Vlachiotis; all but one are still
working for DNV.
The office is organised into two different departments: a
department responsible for surveys with S. Digenis in charge (he
had just returned from a two-year transfer from Rotterdam) and
the Service Centre department with I. Kourmatzis in charge.
Due to the rapid growth of DNV activities at the beginning of

DNV’s customer service management is designated to support
customers with all DNV services to their ships worldwide.
the 1980s, the number of employees grows from 10 to 20 in four
years. The office is relocated to a new address on two floors at
27–31 Hatzikiriakou St., and at the same time T. Wilse retires
and is replaced by B. Øvrebø for a transitional period of less
than a year and eventually by Dane Mr P. B. Hansen in the
Spring of 1982.
The period 1982–85 is marked by a successful attempt of the
Society in Greece to increase its market share, and to gain the
preference of Greek shipowners. The main aim is to change the
perception of the market that DNV can be used only for classing
secondhand vessels bought from Scandinavian owners. This is
the period when market share reaches 10% of Greek-owned
ships classed with DNV. A large number of class transfers take
place during this period, as well as the construction of the second
ship with DNV class in Greece, Lanado, a vessel for oil
reception facilities.
In 1985 the Danish Regional Manager is replaced by the
Swedish Ingvar Lilja, who was to have the longest term as
Regional Manager in Greece. He remained in Greece until
1996, when he moved to the USA. He had an interesting background
as marine captain and lawyer and knew the Greek culture
well, as he had worked in Greece for a Middle East owner
prior to joining DNV. He was a “refined person”, a diplomat, a
true gentleman and had Greek shipping in his heart.
Meanwhile in 1991 the offices of DNV move to today’s
address at 26–28, Akti Kondyli in Piraeus. After 1996 the new
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Regional Manager is the Swedish Ulv Tigerstedt, a very experienced
DNV employee with long service. He comes to Greece following
a four-year assignment as Regional Manager in Korea,
and brings with him wide experience from Far East yards. This is
very timely as it coincides with booming newbuilding orders
from Greek owners at Far East yards. Tigerstedt proves to be a
fair and well-rounded person, inspiring and motivating employees
and instilling team spirit. Together with N. Boussounis and
M. Lavidas as managers of Piraeus district and Safety Management
departments respectively, he systematically widens DNV’s
market. The last ten years after 1995 are sealed with success in
all of the Society’s fields in Greece. The mass turn of Greek owners
from 1997 to newbuildings gives a chance to DNV to increase
its market share from 11% to 18.5% of the Greek market, i.e. a
total fleet capacity of 20 mill.grt of ships are classified with DNV
in 2005. In 1998 for the first time two Greek employees, I. Kourmatzis
and S. Digenis, are promoted to the grade of Vice President.
The same year I. Kourmatzis is appointed as responsible
for Business Area Maritime at Oslo Headquarters in charge of
policy, strategy, research and technology in the area of maritime
business worldwide.
Ulv Tigerstedt remains as Regional Manager in Piraeus until
the beginning of 2000, and is then replaced by Sofoclis Digenis,
the first Greek to become Regional Manager for the area of East
Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
In the summer of 2001 there is an extensive re-organisation

A picture from Piraeus Maritime
Academy and Training Session.
of the international field network of DNV. As a result in the
autumn of 2001 Piraeus is upgraded to administrative centre of
South Europe. The area includes 25 countries and the new management
team of DNV consists of only Greek employees. New
Regional Manager for South Europe is I. Kourmatzis, with Manager
for the East Mediterranean N. Boussounis.
The following five years from 2001 to 2006 are marked by a
considerable growth of DNV in Greece. Total number of
employees is close to 60. Greek surveyors are now serving Greek
owners world-wide with extensive traveling to places as far as
China/Vietnam and South America, whilst at the same time ship
repairs and their major survey jobs in Greece, are on decline
due to labor cost increase. Greek owners continue the spree of
newbuildings, mainly in Korea and to a lesser degree in China/
Japan, with DNV getting more than their fair-share, at about
30% of all Newbuildings.
DNV Piraeus establishes during this period a Maritime Academy
for external training with more than 3000 participants in
more than 200 highly technical/managerial courses.
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Det Norske Veritas
NO-1322 Høvik
Norway
Tel: +47 67 57 99 00
www.dnv.com
For more information contact:
DNV Piraeus, 26-28 Akti Kondyli, Piraeus 18545, Greece
Tel: +30 210 41 00 200, Fax: +30 210 42 26 708
PirMar@dnv.com
www.dnv.com/maritime
5-2006 Coor Graphic Communications 0602-035
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