Dimosthenis Bakopoulos, the head of Greece’s Public Ports Authority (PPA), visibly enjoys the limelight.

In the two years he has been heading the authority, the energetic lawyer, 41, has overseen the largest wreck removal plan in Europe, setting in motion the salvage of 64 sunk or abandoned boats from Piraeus harbour.

But it was only after he set his sights on the biggest prize of all — the 22,000-gt cruiseship Sea Diamond (built 1986) — that he started getting serious media attention.