Greek naval officers were among the recipients of Certificates for Exceptional Services Rendered to Shipping and Mankind awarded by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) during a special ceremony in London on Tuesday night, held in the context of the organisation's 26th general assembly.

   The Greek officers were honored for their participation in the international efforts to repress piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden.

   Certificates were presented to the Commanding Officers, or their representatives, of navy ships from EU and NATO member countries and several other individual countries from various regions, namely from Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

   The Certificates for the Greek officers were presented to Greek Lt. Commanders Panagiotis Lymberis and Antonis Papaioannou, at a ceremony attended by Greece's minister for the economy, competitiveness and shipping Louka Katseli, who is representing Greece at the IMO general assembly that winds up on Wednesday, and Greek ambassador in London Vassilis Pispinis.