Maritime mediation is a win – win situation for the participating parties, as it allows them to negotiate freely, with the assistance of the Mediator, the terms of the agreement and reach a consensual resolution that best serves their interests, thus it is gaining ground in the resolution of maritime disputes.

Maritime Mediation Center is an international mediation and dispute resolution center exclusively focused in the fields of Maritime & Shipping. Our experienced Mediators are at your disposal, so that you can solve any dispute arising concerning maritime law in the most efficient, immediate and low-cost way possible.

“If any dispute arises in connection with this agreement, the parties agree to enter into mediation in good faith to settle such a dispute and will do so in accordance with the Rules of Maritime Mediation Center. No party may commence any court proceedings/arbitration in relation to any dispute arising out of this agreement until it has attempted to settle the dispute through mediation and either the mediation has been terminated or the other party has failed to participate in the mediation, provided that the right to issue proceedings is not prejudiced by a delay.”

Example: The agreed quantity for a cargo may have been 200 tons of fuel and the fuel provider company gave the recipient 170 tons.

Another example can be the one of claims based on fuel quality inconsistency (ISO 8217 2005 2010 2012 2017).

In order for the dispute to be solved faster and more efficiently, the recourse to a Mediator may be the best solution for both parties. In such cases, the Mediator, apart from the communication between the parties, also undertakes the collection of all the documents needed, like receipts and chemical analysis reports, and tries to reconcile the parties by finding a solution which allows the agreement to be executed as initially planned.β

Example: Shipboard officers and crew are likely to evolve in accidents on deck, caused by slips and falls, compressed air, chemicals, electricity, cranes, machinery and others, that can lead to injuries ranging from moderate physical damage to fatality.

An experienced Mediator can handle the communication between the party who suffered from the injury or his/her family and the insurance company’s representatives and help them reach a favorable solution that serves both parties’ interests, faster and with a lower cost in comparison to litigation proceedings.

Loukis Stefanos is an accredited Mediator of the Greek Ministry of Justice and the ADR Center of Rome, as well as a business consultant

He has been trained at Prometheus Athens Mediation Training Institute, having also completed an additional training course at Caruso School of Law of the University of Pepperdine in California (USA). He has also been trained in Maritime Disputes & Arbitration and he has attended plenty of seminars on various Mediation topics.

At the same time, he is the Founder and CEO of “SLBL Business Consultants”, a business consulting enterprise with a clientele of over 400 enterprises.

He is also Member of the Hellenic Union of Mediators and a member of the Cyprus Mediation Association

Vassiliki Koumpli is a Mediator MCIArb, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London, UK, since 2010) and the Hellenic Ministry of Justice (since 2013), as well as Coordinator of Mediation Training Activities and Mediation Trainer at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences.

She is extensively trained in Mediation (as both Mediator and Advocate in Mediation), Negotiation and ADR in general by various institutions, such as Harvard Kennedy School,Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, JAMS International ADR Center, European Court of Arbitration, Europäische Rechtsakademie, facilit8, Athens Center of Mediators’ Training and Education PROMETHEUS, Hellenic Mediation and Arbitration Centre etc.

She provides services as Mediator at the Maritime Mediation Center, the Mediation Center of the Athens Chamber of Small and Medium Industries, the Hellenic Financial Mediation Center, the Mediation Center of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the German-Hellenic Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and as Coordinator at the Out-of-court Settlement Mechanism for Debts of Businesses of the Special Secretariat of Private Debt Management of the Ministry of Finance and Development (Law 4469/2017).

Vassiliki participated in the Task Force on ‘ADR and Arbitration’ of the International Chamber of Commerce and she is founding member of the Mediation and ADR Committee of the National Hellenic Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICCHellas).

She is also Member of the Board (Treasurer) of the Hellenic Union of Mediators, member of the Advisory Board of Mediate Guru and of the United Forum of Legal Studies, and member of the ICC Hellas, the ICC Women Hellas, the Organisation for the Promotion of Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods (OPEMED), the Institute of Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Hellenic Association of Arbitration, the Young International Arbitration Group – London Court of International Arbitration etc.

Vassiliki participates in various actions for the promotion of Mediation and ADR and as judge in Mediation Tournaments, whereas she lectures in Greece and abroad and is author of numerous studies on Mediation.

In addition to her career in Mediation and ADR, Vassiliki has studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the University of London (Queen Mary & Westfield College) and she is a Supreme Court Attorney, Member of the Athens Bar Association (since 2001) and Senior Legal Expert at the Hellenic Institute of International and Foreign Law (since 2003). She regularly publishes and participates as speaker in conferences on specialised legal topics, often serving as Greece’s national reporter in international legal fora, such as the Congresses of the International Academy of Comparative Law, Balkan Conferences etc. She speaks and works in Greek, English,French, German and Spanish, and knows Japanese.

Stratis Simos is an experienced Mediator and a Supreme Court Attorney at Law registered with the Athens Bar Association. His professional experience is focused on Mediation services regarding Commercial and Corporate Disputes covering several industries, with a special expertise in machinery, construction and building contracts,licensing & IP Law, insurance and risk management. Stratis is also a Legal Counsel and Attorney at Law for commercial companies in Greece for more than a decade and has gained significant experience in Court proceedings.

Stratis is an Accredited Mediator registered with the Greek Ministry of Justice since 2018, having been trained at the Athens Center of Mediators’ Education & Training AKKED PROMETHEUS, under the auspices of the Athens Bar Association and the ADR Center Institution as a member of JAMS International Institution.

Further he has completed successfully the Advanced Mediation training program of AKKED PROMETHEUS – ADR Center (December 2019) and takes part frequently in conferences regarding Alternative Dispute Resolution, Business Administration and the Law.

Stratis is fluent in English, Greek and French languages and holds:

Essie Martsinkovsky has been mediating since 2009. She has managed mediation programs, served on a number of mediation panels, and worked on hundreds of disputes involving businesses, religious organisations, schools, families, and communities. Essie values the opportunity to guide disputing parties to negotiate effectively and resolve the issues they face. She believes firmly that in any dispute, the best resolutions are created by parties when they thoroughly assess their interests, their priorities, their values, and the risks they face.

As a mediator, Essie works tirelessly to help parties find every opportunity to claim value and reach the finish line with an agreement satisfactory to all.In 2019, Essie received her Master’s Degree in Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute at Pepperdine School of Law. She is a first-generation American and a native speaker of Russian.

Elena Digenaki is a lawyer and Accredited Mediator of the Ministry of Justice.

She has postgraduate studies in Law (Commercial Law LL.M) and Psychology (Panteion University Master's Degree) while at the same time she has higher studies as a Communication Specialist (Communication and Media of Panteion University) as well as a graduate Social Worker with a professional license.

She undertakes cases of Civil and Comercial Law, while at the same time she also deals with the field of Personal Data Protection where she has received the relevant from the Kapodistrian University of Athens and collaborates as a DPO with many companies. She gives great emphasis in the field of Family Law where she has a specialisation as a Mediator from AKKED Prometheus and she has also been educated in Family Mediation by Pepperdine Caruso School of Law University of California.

Due to the multiple specialisations she has possessed in the Humanities, but also the specialisations she has received in the field of Mediation, they make her a professional with special skills and techniques in the field of Negotiation. She has handled many cases as a Negotiator in out of court settlement of disputes, both between companies or individuals and companies as well as between individuals.

Especially in the Law of Companies where multilevel conflicts occur, she has successfully undertaken their resolution through communication and negotiation techniques that lead the parties to compromise and reconciliation and also to the continuation of cooperation between companies, avoiding long term disputes of dubious ending.

Paul is a barrister with 26 years’ conflict resolution experience. Paul is an independent mediator and arbitrator in New Zealand and internationally. He is also a business advisor and independent director. Paul has spent time as the CEO of an international superyacht construction business.

Paul’s appointments include: Fellow of the Charted Institute of Arbitrators, Fellowship of AMINZ (arbitration and mediation), Arbitration, Mediation and Farm Debt Panels, Fellow of Prime Disputes (including certified educator status and a number of panel appointments) ,Fellow of Resolution Institute, Fellow of MIArb (Malaysia), Resolution Institute Determination and Arbitration Committee member (Australasia), Netball New Zealand Disciplinary Committee chairman, mediator for the Marine Industry Association, and mediator for the New Zealand Law Society. Paul is also Chairperson of the New Zealand Master Builders Association Code of Conduct committee and is on the Franchise Association of New Zealand mediation panel. Paul is now the Director of Professional Studies (Mediation) for AMINZ and is running the 2021 Fellowship programme. Paul also sits on the Resolution Institute Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.

In 2020 Paul was awarded the Mediator of the Year award at the annual New Zealand Law Awards and was awarded the Prime Disputes (London) leadership award for equality and diversity in dispute resolution.

In addition to his Fellowship studies, Paul has completed the Advanced Mediation Course at the Harvard Program on Negotiation.

Founder and Board Member, CONCILIA LLC, 2005-present; Trial civil and commercial lawyer, 2004-present; Vice President of the Arbitral Chamber of the Chamber of Commerce of Viterbo, 2009-2018; Limited Partner, CONCILIA LP, 1999-2005.

Experience: Years of service served as a trial civil and commercial lawyer, with substantial transaction experience, in the commercial, business, sport, and art arena. Since 2003, Trainer in "Effective Communication", "Mediation and ADR", and "Strategic Management of Human Resources", The International Academy of Sciences of Peace, Rome. Alternative Dispute Resolution Experience Considered one of the leading Italian experts in teaching and consultancy in Mediation, ADR, and Strategic Problem Solving. IMI Certified Mediator and IMI Mediation Advocacy Expert (the first accredited in Italy). Distinguished Fellow, International Academy of Mediators. 24+ years of experience handling national and international mediations, conciliations, negotiations, and arbitral procedures as Professional Conciliator, Mediator and Arbitrator, 1996-present; Conciliator and Mediator accredited by the Ministry of Justice, 2003-present; Conciliators’and Mediators’ Trainer accredited by the Ministry of Justice, 2003-present. Public Conciliator for Lazio Region, Italy, for medical and paramedical liability cases, 2019-present. He has served as a Mediator in more than 4.000 procedures at both the domestic and international level. He conducts mediations both in evaluative and in facilitative method. Sometimes his style is also transformative. He conducts ad-hoc and on-line mediations especially referred to consumer disputes. He is also an expert in Mediation Advocacy Techniques (MA), and one of the first MA professionals in Italy. He is also an expert in social and environmental mediations and in EU Financed Projects referred to ADRs/ODRs.

Various arbitral procedures as sole arbitrator or party's arbitrator, 2000-present. Very extensive experience in training and advising several thousand Professionals, Companies, Public Authorities, Chambers of Commerce, Universities, ADR Centers, in Effective Communication, ADR Techniques, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Public Speaking, Self-Motivation, EU Law, International Private Law, 1996-present. Nominated Key Expert or Key International Expert in EU financed projects for the development of mediation programs and/or the training in Mediation and ADR Techniques (in Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Croatia, Serbia Montenegro, Turkey, Moldova, Egypt, Tunisia). Past Vice-President of the Arbitral Chamber of the Chamber of Commerce of the City of Viterbo, 2009-2018. Past Assistant Professor of Mediation and ADR, University of Pisa - CISP, Italy, 2001-2006. Over the years, he brought CONCILIA to win, various EU financed projects, as -for instance- the EU Financed one called "Support the ADR in the Serbian Judiciary", financed by the European Agency for the Reconstruction and the EU Commission.

Experience as a Mediator: Has served as a mediator in more than 4.500 cases, in any area, especially on civil and commercial, business, trade, workplace and labor, art, sport, consumers, medical liability, and intellectual property disputes. Has managed numerous complex mediations, including multi-millionaire and multi-party. Special Expert in sport and art mediations accredited by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS-CAS, Lausanne, Switzerland), 2015-present; and the Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands), 2019-present. Also expert in e-mediations, especially for consumers cases, and transnational trade. Mediations conducted both in evaluative and in facilitative method. Sometimes the style is also transformative. Numerous Mediations conducted "ad-hoc" and on-line, especially referred to consumer disputes. Usually clients are Companies (both SME and Big ones), Public Administrations, Professionals, Consortia, Interest Groups, Consultants.