Deep sadness over the death of Dimis Mavropoulos on his boat during the severe storm on Saturday was expressed on Monday by the Limassol chamber of commerce.

President of the Limassol chamber (Evel) Andreas Tsouloftas said he had been hosted on a friend’s boat next to Mavroupoulos’ one week earlier.

“We went in the dinghy next to Dimis’ boat and told him that everyone was planning to leave, as the weather was going to get worse, but he told us that he would stay for another week,” he said.

Tsouloftas said Mavropoulos had vast experience with boats and “felt that he could cope as in similar cases in the past, but no one expected such wind intensity and such waves”.

Mavroupoulos died on board his boat Perla Bianca during the severe storms that hit the island on Saturday.

Three boats sank off Cape Greco with the Joint Rescue and Coordination Centre (JRCC) launching an operation that pulled five people alive out of the water in addition to Mavropoulos.

“Dimis was always a risk-taker, believing that he would make it, but the sea is unforgiving and demands respect,” he said.

He spoke of a “truly sad incident”, alleging negligence on the part of the responsible authorities of the port and maritime police, saying that if they had reached the boat in a timely manner, the incident might have been avoided.

“As a member of the Board of Directors of Evel and Limassol regional tourism board (Etap), he was very typical with his presence at meetings, he loved the Chamber and business and was always by our side at all the events we had to promote the city and its development,” he said.

Tsouloftas added that the absence of Mavropoulos at the Evel session scheduled for next Monday would be “immense” and said that the chamber would discuss proposals for paying tribute him.

Meanwhile the Cyprus museum of historic and classical cars set up by Mavropoulos expressed its deep sadness over the “unjust and premature loss of the beloved founder of the museum and the club”.

“A man with an immense love and passion for cars. A man who dedicated a large part of his life to service, charity and society, his love for Limassol, his city, was special and deep,” the museum said.

The museum noted that it would remain closed until the conclusion of the funeral service, which will be announced at a later stage.