Columbia moves to a strong beat during Maritime Cyprus
Drummers from Limassol’s Batoukinio percussion group added an exciting element of surprise and glamour to an impressive evening of top quality networking and socialising at Columbia Group’s own Maritime Cyprus event at the Columbia Beach venue in the town.
Over 600 shipowners and charterers rubbed shoulders with lawyers and brokers as well as international and European regulators, all enjoying what must have been one of the more memorable receptions of the Maritime Cyprus event.
Welcoming guests to Columbia Beach, Mark O’Neil, Columbia Group President and CEO, said it was the people who worked in, and alongside, the Group, both ashore and at sea, that were the driving force behind its growth and success.
Columbia was the first company to introduce a code of conduct for all its staff, he said, and was a leader behind the decision to create guiding principles for the global shipmanagement sector.
“Columbia has spent $1 million of its own money setting up sanctuaries in Romania and Poland for Ukrainian seafarers and their wives and children, and has invested an additional $500,000 in an international maritime rehabilitation centre, open to all in the industry to help trauma victims as a result of the Ukraine war,” he said.
And the future looks very rosy for Columbia Group, as the company launches its own Columbia 2.0 programme to ensure it is fit for purpose for next 5, 10, 15 and 20 years.
