On Saturday, November 15, 2025, The American College of Greece hosted the 3rd International Diving Conference 2025 on Developments in Technical & Recreational Diving and Protection of the Underwater Environment. The Conference was co-organized by the Hellenic Underwater Explorers (HUE) and the ACG Center of Excellence in Sustainability (CoES) and the ACG Center of Excellence in Shipping, Logistics and Energy (CoESLE).
Dr. George Kokosalakis, Associate Professor, School of Business and Economics, Deree – ACG, Executive Director, Center of Excellence in Shipping, Logistics and Energy (CoESLE), opened the Event. Greetings were also addressed by: Konstantinos Mazarakis–Ainian, Rear Admiral (ret.) Hellenic Navy Honorary Chief of Fleet & General Director of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation; Omar Amer Youssef – Ambassador of Egypt to Greece; Giannis Mylonakis – Mayor of Aghia Paraskevi; Triantafyllou Kostas – PADI Regional Manager; Dimitris Galinas – President of E.O.Y.D.A.
The opening speech was given by Mr. George Petrou, Advanced Trimix I. Trainer TDI/SDI, 3*** CMAS/EOUDA, PSAI i.Trainer Explorer, Founder & President of Hellas Underwater Explorer. Dr. Stella Apostolaki, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science, Deree – ACG; Executive Director, Center of Excellence in Sustainability (CoES), opened the session with scientific and technical talks. The distinguished speakers included Ms. Anastasia Miliou, Director, “Archipelagos” Institute of Marine Conservation on the “Protection of Coralligenous Habitats in the deep waters of the Mesophotic Zone of the Aegean and Mediterranean”; Dr. Dimitrios Kourkoumelis, Head of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, Ministry of Culture on a speech on “Providing access to underwater archaeological sites: challenges and prospects.”; Dr. Ioanna Efstathiou, Deputy Head of the Ephorate of Speleology – Paleoanthropology, Ministry of Culture on “The Legislative framework for cave diving”; Dr. Vasilis Giannopoulos, PhD in Geology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens on “1988-2015: 27 Years of Cave Diving in Greece”; Dr. Pavlos Vavasis, Director of Hyperbaric Diving Medicine Athens on “Diving accidents & treatment with Hyperbaric Oxygen in a Decompression Chamber”; Kostas Bakopanos, Rebreather Instructor, Divesoft Liberty “History, evolution, advantages & disadvantages of Rebreather diving”; Kostas Thoktaridis, Instructor, Professional Diver, ROV Expert on “The submersible “Thetis” & the ROV Achille. A fascinating journey into Underwater Technology”; Stratis Kas, Diving Instructor, Photographer, Director, Author on “Re-evaluation of traditional Methods & Approaches in Cave Diving.”
The Conference had the special honor to host Mr. Ahmed Gabr–I. Trainer, Guinness World Record holder for the deepest dive “332 m.”, TDI Advanced Trimix Instructor Trainer, JJ-CCR Instructor, and Founder of Gabr Tek, a company dedicated to coral restoration, who talked about his Guinness World Record achievement and his experiences on “Red Thin Line – Coral Restoration”.
Finally, the conference honored individuals in the diving community who have made outstanding contributions to advancing diving, supported social initiatives, and promoted Greek diving on the international stage.