Vasilis Bacolitsas was born in Athens in 1971, into a shipping family that dates back to 1969, when his father set up his first shipping company together with a partner. Mr. Bacolitsas graduated from Queen Mary College (London) in 1992 with a BSc in Economics and has since worked for Sea Pioneer Shipping Corporation (the dry cargo shipping firm). In 1995, he was instrumental in setting up Pioneer Tankers Shipping Corporation, a company that managed product and crude tankers. The two management companies merged in 2010 and today Sea Pioneer Shipping Corporation manages both the drybulk and tanker tonnage.
Mr. Bacolitsas was a Board member of the American P+I Club for 10 years, and he currently sits on the Board (Advisory Council) of the West P+I Club. Vasilis is also a member of the Cayman Islands Shipowners Advisory Council (CISAC) and is also Chairman of the Hellenic Mediterranean Panel (HMP) of Intertanko since 2015, having served in that position for 3 consecutive terms.
Apart from Shipping, Vasilis handles all real estate matters for his family and has personally invested in more than 12 technology start-ups since 1999, mainly in the US, Israel and Greece.
Finally, Vasilis is in charge of the family’s charitable foundation abroad and, through its Greek Not for Profit Company, for all Greek charitable donations, actions and engagements.