The positive response of the wider Greek maritime community to the invitation of HELMEPA for enhanced cooperation to meet the great contemporary environmental challenges fills us with joy, satisfaction and a sense of responsibility.

Despite the difficulties in the operation of school units throughout Greece due to the pandemic, the interest of young members of HELMEPA Junior and their teachers to participate in the activities of the program still remains lively.

HELMEPA new Training Program for 2021 has been launched with a lot of enthusiasm and many expectations for its continuation throughout the year. The three-day webinar “Safety First” was carried out from 19 to 21 January in English, giving the opportunity to more than 140 Greek and foreign seafarers and shipping professionals from managing companies-Members of HELMEPA and CYMEPA as well as other bodies and organizations in Greece and Cyprus to participate.

During autumn, HELMEPA coordinated for the 30^th consecutive year in Greece the International Coastal Cleanup campaign, the oldest and most extensive public awareness campaign on marine litter.

In a few days we bid farewell to 2020, a particularly difficult year for all of us. The global spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic and the immense problems it caused created new, unprecedented conditions, to which we are all still trying to adapt.

At the beginning of March, HELMEPA’s Maritime Training Center suspended the implementation of seminars of the 2020 Refresher Training Program at its premises, responding immediately to the need to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Until then, only 4 seminars had been carried out with the participation of approximately 60 seafarers and shipping professionals.

On Friday 18 December, 14 children-members of the most active "HELMEPA Junior" groups during the 2019-2020 school year, met online for the 27^th annual Meeting of the program, representing 7,580 children throughout Greece.

The decisions of the Extraordinary General Meeting of HELMEPA Members that was held online on Thursday, December 17th 2020, mark the strengthening of the links between HELMEPA and the Greek shipping community as well as the expansion of communication channels in order to communicate the Association’s environmental messages to a wider audience.

During the meeting of HELMEPA’s Board of Directors, on Thursday 19 November 2020, it was announced that following 38 successful and prosperous years, the cooperation with Mr. Mitsatsos has reached its end.