The Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology held its 20th Annual Conference of Marine Technology on 6 and 7 October 2026 at the Eugenides Foundation in Athens, drawing shipping companies, classification societies, technology providers, academic institutions and public authorities into a single two-day programme.

Twenty editions in, the conference has become a fixed meeting point between the Greek maritime sector, international shipping stakeholders and the research community. This anniversary edition organised its sprawling agenda around four recurring themes: decarbonisation, digitalisation, safety and geopolitical risk.

The opening session carried political weight. Greece's Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Vassilis Kikilias, addressed delegates alongside representatives from the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, the Union of Greek Shipowners, the European Shortsea Network, academic institutions and maritime associations.

Container News took part in the event through its Managing Director, Giannis Nikolakis, Managing Editor, Antonia Saratsopoulou, and Geopolitical Analyst, Alexandros Itimoudis.

What did the technical agenda cover?

Day one mixed technical presentations with panel and round-table formats. The programme addressed:

• Wind propulsion
• Subsea cable protection
• Boil-off gas compression
• Maritime cybersecurity
• Carbon credits and onboard carbon capture
• Vessel safety, data quality and regulatory reporting
• Hull cleaning, hybrid propulsion and autonomous shipping legislation

Two panels framed the commercial backdrop. One explored how alternative fuels, safety challenges and geopolitical realities are affecting shipping. A second examined market volatility and the changing maritime economy.

The day closed with a round-table on the future maritime workforce. Participants flagged a structural problem: vessels, technologies and operational requirements are evolving faster than traditional training structures can absorb.

What did the research sessions deliver?

Day two leaned heavily into scientific research and practical maritime applications. Parallel sessions covered:

• Methanol combustion and biofuels
• Low-carbon marine fuels
• Artificial intelligence in ship finance
• New antifouling coatings
• Wind-assisted propulsion and offshore wind farms
• Ship emissions, autonomous vessels and hybrid marine engines
• Machine learning and vessel-motion modelling
• Health-risk monitoring and structural failure prevention
• Offshore vessel safety, fuel-cell performance and maritime digitalisation challenges

Across both days, the conference deliberately connected academic research with commercial and operational requirements — a format that reflects how closely shipboard technology decisions now track regulatory and fuel-market pressure rather than pure engineering preference.

Why does this matter for operators?

The breadth of the agenda signals where Greek shipping — which controls one of the world's largest merchant fleets — expects to spend technical and regulatory attention over the coming years. Onboard carbon capture, boil-off gas compression and low-carbon fuels sat alongside cybersecurity and autonomous-vessel legislation, a combination that captures the twin pressures of decarbonisation rules and digital exposure now facing carriers and shipowners.

The workforce round-table raised a point with direct operational consequences: if training structures lag behind vessel technology, the industry risks a skills bottleneck precisely when hybrid propulsion, autonomous systems and new fuel types demand higher crew competence. For ship managers, that gap translates into training cost and potential compliance exposure as new technologies enter service.

The 20th edition closed with decarbonisation, digitalisation, safety and geopolitical risk confirmed as the organising themes of the Greek maritime technology debate — a trajectory that points toward tighter integration of research, regulation and fleet operations at future editions.