Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias Attends Oath Taking Ceremony of New Hellenic Navy and Hellenic Coast Guard Ensigns at Hellenic Naval Academy

Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias Attends Oath Taking Ceremony of New Hellenic Navy and Hellenic Coast Guard Ensigns at Hellenic Naval Academy

June 21, 2024

On Friday 21 June 2024, the Minister of National DefenceNikos Dendiasattended the oath taking ceremony of new Hellenic Navy and Coast Guard Ensigns, which took place in the Hellenic Naval Academy in Piraeus, as representative of the President of the Government.

The ceremony was attended by the Her Excellency the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, who presented the new Ensigns with their swords.

The ceremony was also attended by MP Georgios Vrettakosas representative of the President of the Hellenic Parliament, the Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy, Stefanos Gikas, MPs Ioannis Tragakis, Domna Mihailidou, and Nikolaos Vlahakos, as well as MP, former Minister of National Defence and Honorary Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Admiral (ret.) Evangelos Apostolakis.

On behalf of the military leadership the ceremony was attended by the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Dimitrios Houpis, the Chief of Hellenic Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis, the Chief of Hellenic Navy General Staff, Vice Admiral Dimitrios-Eleftherios Kataras HN, the Chief of Hellenic Air Force General Staff, Lieutenant General (HAF) Dimosthenis Grigoriadis, the Chief of Hellenic Coast Guard, Vice Admiral (CG) Georgios Alexandrakis, as well as representatives of the Chiefs of the Security Forces, honorary Chiefs of Hellenic National Defence and Navy General Staff, Members of the Supreme Naval Council, active duty and retired Officers of the Armed Forces and the Hellenic Coast Guard, military and civilian personnel, representatives of Local and Regional governments, the Chamber of Commerce of Piraeus and local institutions, as well as the families and friends of the new Ensigns.

The ceremony was officiated by His Grace the Right Reverend the Bishop of Evripos, Mr. Chrysostomos, as representative of His Eminence the Metropolitan of Piraeus, Mr. Serafim.

In total, 43 new Hellenic Navy Officers (of which 13 were Engineers) took the oath. From them 31 were from Greece, 5 from the Republic of Cyprus, 4 from Jordan, 2 from Tunisia, and 1 from Montenegro. For the Hellenic Coast Guard 29 Ensigns took the oath.