We started today at the Vassiliko Port and Vassiliko Cement Works. We had a little presentation in a conference room to start and learned the basics about the company. They were established in 1963 but didn’t start producing cement until 1967. They have 233 employees but only 14% are women. One thing that bothered me was how much the guy said they have so many women but didn’t know the numbers. He kept saying there were a lot until a lady said that there were 14% and they were mostly managerial positions. I noticed this at a lot of companies, how they would say how it was impressive that women were able do this stuff. Back to info about the company, the company is the largest production unit in Europe. They use both fossil fuels and alternative fuels. Currently it is not super easy to use alternative fuel sources so it is really good that they incorporate it into their processes. The port is the only industrial port in Cyprus and it serves about 300 ships per year. Last year though, was a record year where they had 420 ships.
After the presentation we were given construction hard hats and vests. Everyone was really happy to get them because they were a fun touch to the visit. We weren’t allowed to keep them but it was still fun to wear around for a while. We got on the bus and drove to different parts of the facility. At each spot we got out and looked around as they told us about it.
At one of the locations we went inside a building where they showed us how they monitor everything to make sure the whole process is going smoothly.
We then had this amazing group lunch. It was a seafood mezze. The food was amazing and there was so much of it. The views from the restaurant are gorgeous. Since the restaurant was on the water, the food was so fresh.
We then went to MSC Shipmanagement Limassol. It’s a family owned company and they have moved 11 billion tons of cargo. They ship to 155 countries and they own over 599 ships. They own the biggest ship in the world: MSC Irina. Their building was really nice. The presenter was a lot of fun and really energetic. She made the lesson more fun and kept everyone attentive. This was the only company where we met someone in every branch, even the CEO. They also got us pizza and cake which is really nice of them. Overall the company was really impressive and had a lot of interesting aspects.
