CYPnaval 2015 Conference e-Booklet enhancing the protection of Blue Economy | Page 27

Rear Admiral (HCG ret.) Georgios Vourekas
Head of Sea Borders,

FRONTEX

Georgios Vourekas was born in Piraeus (Greece) in 1956.
He graduated from University in 1979 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. He attended the Naval
Academy in Piraeus, Greece and served in several positions including Harbour Master, Deputy Harbour
Master and Head of several Units. His duties included border control, prosecution of common crime,
safety of navigation, environmental protection, fisheries control, port policing and intelligence.
He is specialized in Strategic Planning, Total Quality, Crisis Management, Maritime Crisis Management,
Media Management, Merchant Fleet Management and Protection of the Marine Environment. Mr.
Vourekas was also a lecturer at the Naval Academy and the naval Staff College in Greece.
From 1998 to 2001 he was Maritime Attaché in the Port of New Orleans in the United States. He was
also national expert at the European Standardization Committee (CEN) for two years.
In total he has served 35 years out of which 19 years at first line positions. He was Director of the
Intelligence Directorate, Head of Unit at Port Police and the Legal Department of the Hellenic Coast
Guard. He was also the registrar of the Mercantile Marine Registry. In 2004 he was the Maritime
Security Advisor for the Athens Olympic Games. His final post in the Hellenic Coast Guard was the
Director of the Eastern Sea Borders Center (ESBC) until the establishment of Frontex in 2005. Mr.
Vourekas is presently the Head of Sea Borders Sector at Frontex. He has had this position for ten years.
In this post he is responsible for the running of Maritime Joint Operations protecting the EU maritime
Border.
Mr. Vourekas is married and has two daughters.