As taxation tightens in western Europe, the cruising grounds of the east Mediterranean are attracting increased interest from the superyacht community.  

A new conference set in Athens, Greece, will look at how the east med region is tapping into its potential as a superyacht hub and destination. 

The East Mediterranean Superyacht Forum, takes place at the Athens Plaza Hotel on June 1, 2017 and will feature speakers from Greece, Turkey, Croatia, as well as from Italy, Spain, the UK, the US and further afield.

The conference is jointly produced by Quaynote Communications, the specialist conference company and Oceda SA, the new Greece-based yacht services company managed by Jennifer Timinis.  

“The aim of the conference is to bring what is happening in the East Med to the attention of an international superyacht audience,” explains Lorna Titley, Director at Quaynote. 

“The programme will look at what the region has to offer owners and charterers and will compare chartering restrictions in Greece with those in other jurisdictions,” he says.  

Aris Geronymakis, Attorney at Law at Geronymakis & Partners Law Office, Carla Bellieni of Studio Piana Illuzzi Queirolo Trabattoni and Captain Andrija Simic, of Adriatic Yachting Alliance will join a panel to compare the challenges of chartering in Greece, Italy, Croatia and across the Mediterranean.

Another key concern for superyachts everywhere is finding suitable berths.  M Kemal Saatcioglu from D-Marin, Andreas Mavrakis, Director at Tethys Private Equity and Paul Cook, General Manager at OneOcean Port Vell will look at the challenges and opportunities for marina developers and will ask how the supply and demand imbalance can be addressed, particularly for the >60m fleet, which has grown by over 70 per cent in the past decade with further growth forecast. 

Major brokers set to share their expert insight with delegates include Vassilis Fotilas, Commercial Director at Fraser Yachts, who will speak about the current state of superyacht sales and Michel Chryssicopoulos, Partner, IYC who will join a panel of brokers to discuss projected future sales.  Later in the day, a Captain`s view of what the cruising grounds of the east Med have to offer will be provided by Captain Mark Souter and Norma Trease of NETrease Business Development & Marketing will be talking to an Owner about their personal experiences of owning a superyacht.

 Michael Dunkerly from Tethys Equity SA will be chairing the East Mediterranean Superyacht Forum that is expected to attract delegates from a range of industry sectors - yacht brokers, marina operators, yacht managers, lawyers, corporate service providers, yacht associations, yacht captains, owners` representatives. 

“We have been planning to run this conference for a number of years” concludes Alison Singhal, co-Director at Quaynote, “The time is now right, with a lot of interest being shown in the East Med region by the industry at large, increased activity in the region`s marina sector, and local companies having a huge amount of knowledge and expertise to share.”