MarineTraffic Appoints Nikos Psaltopoulos as its First COO

Global ship tracking and intelligence company MarineTraffic has appointed Nikos Psaltopoulos as its first ever Chief Operating Officer (COO) to bolster the firm’s ambitious 2020 vision.

According to the Athens headquartered company, it has grown significantly and is working to make MarineTraffic a more vital tool than ever before for maritime professionals through more data and partnerships.

MarineTraffic Chief Executive Officer Demitris Memos said: “We are very excited to welcome Nikos to the team and are confident that his energy and passion to disrupt will bring about meaningful, positive change.”

“This is a significant move for MarineTraffic and part of our drive to become the world’s leading online platform for the shipping industry, an essential tool for maritime professionals, an information service and the central hub, where they carry out their business activities and collaborate to be more effective in their work.”

Nikos Psaltopoulos background spans over three continents, and includes 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry as well as roles advising numerous tech start-ups.

“I am just so excited about what’s happening here in Athens,” says Nikos Psaltopoulos as he surveys the busy traffic from his office window overlooking Leof. Kifisias. “Right here, right now the Athens IT and start-up scene is booming. We’ve got some of the best brains in the business and many of them are working here at MarineTraffic.”

The company said that Nikos Psaltopoulos has a big task ahead of him. His role is to turn the company’s ambitious 2020 vision into reality. This vision focuses on making MarineTraffic a more vital tool than ever before for maritime professionals through more data and partnerships.

Working hand-in-hand with the three founding partners Dimitris Lekkas, Dimitris Memos and Argyris Stasinakis, Nikos is focused on making the MarineTraffic machine work better and attracting the talent needed to take the company on to the next level, it said.

This drive comes at a time of big changes in the global maritime industry. Shipowners and operators are reassessing their businesses as a combination of environmental legislation, low freight rates and disruptive technologies are changing the way in which ships are run.