Efthimios E. Mitropoulos was born in Piraeus into a maritime family with its roots in Galaxidi, a capital of the 19th century Greek fleet in the era of sail.
After graduating from the Aspropyrgos Merchant Marine and Piraeus Naval Academies, he started his career as a merchant navy officer and, from 1962, as a commissioned officer of the Hellenic Coast Guard. His education in maritime disciplines included the study of shipping economics in Italy and marine technology in the UK.
In 1977, he was appointed as Harbour Master of Corfu, a position he held until 1979 when he joined the International Maritime Organization in London. In May 1992, he became Director of the IMO’s Maritime Safety Division and, in May 2000, Assistant Secretary-General.
In June 2003, he was elected Secretary-General of IMO for the period 2004 to 2008. In November 2006, his mandate was renewed for another four years, concluding at the end of 2011.
Mr Mitropoulos bowed out as Secretary-General after completing the maximum-allowed two terms of office to universal acclaim for his work in guiding the IMO through a period of unprecedented challenge in addressing phenomena such as maritime security, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and the resurgence in ocean piracy – added to traditional concerns such as safety and training.
His leadership of the Organization will also be remembered for his advocacy of seafarers and their families. Illustrative of his personal engagement in this cause was the 2008 unveiling of an International Memorial become to the Wife of the Seafarer, overlooking the entrance to the port of Galaxidi.
Mr Mitropoulos is the only Greek to have headed an agency of the UN. He has received numerous honours and awards, most recently the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and an honorary Knighthood of the Order of St Michael and St George by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
In November 2011, the IMO Assembly designated him Secretary-General Emeritus with effect from 1st January 2012. Among numerous achievements and attributes appreciated by the Assembly in its citation were “his effective leadership, his wise counsel, his clarity of vision and purpose, as well as his strong and insistent advocacy of a united membership and the adoption of an effective global maritime safety and security culture, environmental consciousness and corporate responsibility.”
The Assembly also recognized with appreciation that during his distinguished stewardship there had been a material and sustained reduction in both the loss of life at sea and marine pollution from ships.
“There are very few countries in the world in which the association with ships and the sea is as much a romance as a business, and Greece is undoubtedly one of those,” he says.
“The history of Greece and the history of seafaring are inextricably interwoven; seafaring and shipping remain as central to our national identity today as they have ever been. In Greece, shipping is a part of the national consciousness, it is in the genes of the Greek, it constitutes one of the most solid fabrics of Greek society.”
Says Mr Mitropoulos: “Both historically and in modern times, Greece is steeped in maritime tradition and there are countless examples – among family concerns that go back generations – where shipping is almost literally in the blood – this is certainly my case and I am hugely proud of it.”
Among his various current activities, Mr Mitropoulos is Chairman of the Board of the “Maria Tsakos” Foundation, Chancellor of the Chennai (India) Maritime University and Patron of the International Seafarers’ Welfare Trust.
