Captain GRC N, Panagiotis Tripontikas was born in Athens in 1972 and hails from Velanidia, Voion, Laconia (Municipality of Monemvasia). He graduated from the Hellenic Naval Academy in 1995 and was promoted to Captain in 2022.

Career

His service includes assignments on Fleet units such as:

• 1995–1996: HS Macedonia
• 1996–1998: HS Karteria (Navigation & Direction Officer)
• 1999–2001: HS Kleio (Executive Officer)
• 2001–2003: Minehunter (Hunt Class) HS Europe (Navigation & Direction Officer)
• 2003–2005: Gunboat HS Ormi (Executive Officer)
• 2011–2012: Minehunter (Osprey Class) HS Calypso as a Commanding Officer.

Additional assignments include:

• 2005–2008: Hellenic Navy Petty Officers’ Academy
• 2009–2010: Staff Officer, Hellenic Navy Fleet Command
• 2010–2011: Mine Warfare Command and NATO Force SNMCMG-2

Leadership & staff positions:

2013–2015: Director, Naval Museums (Battleship Georgios Averof & HS Velos).

2015–2020: Director G2, Hellenic Navy Fleet Command (Logistics – Environmental & Cultural Heritage Protection ).

2020–2022: Staff Officer, Hellenic MoD / General Directorate for Defence Investments & Armaments – Climate Change  & Environmental and Cultural Heritage Protection SME.

2022–2025 Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence  (ACOS N2), NATO Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM).

Since 1 August 2025, he serves as Director of the Naval Museum, Battleship “Georgios Averof.”

Education

Academic

2024: Master of Arts in Applied Strategy and International Security (University of Plymouth, with scholarship – specialization in Climate Change, Defence and Maritime Security).

1995: BSc in Naval Science, Hellenic Naval Academy.

Military

2024: NATO Comprehensive Operations Planning Course, Oberammergau.

2024: NATO Intelligence Course, Oberammergau.

2019–2020: Hellenic National Defence College.

2012–2013: Hellenic Supreme Joint War College.

2008: Mine Warfare Staff Officers Course, NATO Mine Warfare School, Ostend.

2005: Hellenic Naval Staff Officers’ School.

2002: Advanced Mine Warfare Course, NATO Mine Warfare School, Ostend.

Awards & Distinctions

“Friend of the Environment” Award (2019) – Hellenic Navy, Hellenic National Defence General Staff, and Hellenic Fleet Command.

Medals and decorations corresponding to his rank.

Fluent in English.

Publications

Books

1900: The Adventures of Pavlos Kountouriotis during the first transatlantic voyage onboard the cruiser “Navarchos Miaoulis” (with S. Milesis), ISBN 978-960-88509-3-4.

Shipwrecks in Greek Seas 1830–1951 – The Underwater Heritage of the Navy’s Shareholding Fund & NAT, ISBN 978-960-93-8466-7.

Educational Booklets

A Day on Battleship Averof (Grades A–C, Primary School), ISBN 978-960-88509-1-0.

Battleship Averof and its History through Time (Grades D–F, Primary School), ISBN 978-960-88509-2-7.

Studies & Editorial Work

Editor, 2nd Revised Edition of the Environmental and Energy Policy for Climate Change Adaptation (Hellenic MoD, 2020), ISBN 978-618-80914-7-4.

Editor and English translation of the Roadmap for the Adaptation of the Armed Forces to Climate Change (Hellenic MoD, 2020), ISBN 978-618-86474-1-1.

He is married to Irakleia Schoina, and they have a son, Yiannis.