The Greek shipping success story owes its recognition to the adaptability of Greek shipping companies to all the market conditions, its hands-on management pattern and the intuition/knowledge/expertise of Greek shipowners/human force.
As a matter of fact it seems quite logical that 13 Greece’s largest shipowners/personalities are included in the Top 100 list recently presented from Lloyd’s List publication.
The following personalities have stood out for their group’s tradition and ambitious/innovative fleet-expansion strategies.
Maria Angelicoussis/Angelicoussis Shipping Group
Dr Angelicoussis, 40, was attracted into shipping by her father after an initial career as a medical doctor; she learned the business at his side.
2023 will see delivery of four dual‑fuel very large crude carriers for the group’s tanker arm, Maran Tankers.
Two dual‑fuel newcastlemax bulk carriers are also now under construction for Maran Dry. All will have the option of running on LNG.
The group has placed orders for 12 newbuilding LNG carriers, all of which are fixed out on long‑term charters to first‑class counterparties.
Maran Gas already has a fleet on the water of 42 LNG carriers, including a number owned and operated in joint ventures with Qatari giant Nakilat.
Angelicoussis Group fly the Greek flag on practically its entire fleet of 143 vessels on the water and are by far the largest Greek company to do so.
George Prokopiou - Dynacom/Dynagas/Sea Traders
A quite remarkable achievement of Mr. Prokopiou is that Germany has hired two of the company’s regasification vessels, Transgas Force and Transgas Power, as floating storage and regasification units.
They are expected to start operations in spring 2023 and will have a combined capacity equivalent to about 30% of prior Russian gas imports into the country.
The two vessels were delivered in 2021 but had been ordered in China several years earlier. They are the first FSRUs built by Chinese yards.
He was the first international owner to build up a fleet of ice‑class LNG carriers and the private Dynagas fleet includes five ice‑breaking Arc 7‑vessels co‑owned with Chinese partners.
He was also first to order newbuildings of a larger 200,000 cu m class of LNG carrier, inking nine of these with Hyundai Heavy Industries.
Mr Prokopiou already has an outstanding project for up to four more 200,000 cu m vessels to be built in China by Dalian Shipbuilding.
Finally, Dynacom controls fleets of about 50 tankers under Dynacom Tankers and about 40 dry bulk carriers under Sea Traders.
Angeliki Frangou - Navios Group
Ms Frangou is at the helm of a unified 185‑ship fleet under Navios Maritime Partners.
Navios Containers and tanker arm Navios Acquisition were folded into the New York‑listed partnership in 2021 and they were followed by the 36‑vessel dry bulk fleet controlled by Navios Holdings, which was acquired by Navios Partners in 2022 the consolidated fleet was valued at more than $6bn.
Ms Frangou has also a serious exposure to ports and wider logistics, through the Navios South American Logistics joint venture.
Navios Holdings controls a 63.8% share of the ports, terminals, river barges and cabotage business focused on the vast Hidrovia region and the east coast of South America.
Melina Travlos - Union of Greek Shipowners/Neptune Lines
She is the first woman elected president of the Union of Greek Shipowners since its establishment in 1916, she is already a particularly iconic figure.
She has become the first new leader of the UGS since her long‑running predecessor, Theodore Veniamis, became president in 2008.
Ms Travlos is also Chief Executive Officer has guided Neptune’s emergence as a vehicle logistics provider, with a network of services to about 50 ports in the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and Black Sea.
No fewer than five acquisitions in 2022 have expanded Neptune’s fleet to 19 pure car and truck carriers. They included the newly built Neptune Barcelona, with a capacity of more than 7,000 cars, which makes it the line’s largest vessel so far.
Her group nowadays also includes Neptune Dry Management, which controls a fleet of dry bulk carriers.
Petros Pappas - Star Bulk
Under Petros Pappas’s leadership, Star Bulk Carriers continues to be at the forefront of the global dry bulk shipping industry on a multitude of levels.
Much of Star Bulk’s expansion towards its present fleet size of 128 bulk carriers was achieved through merger and acquisition deals when the dry bulk market was at weaker points.
It was able to acquire dozens of vessels at relatively advantageous prices, often using its liquidity to pay at least part of the cost in company stock.
Mr Pappas’s private interests include the Oceanbulk bulker fleet and a stake in product tanker company Product Shipping & Trading.
George Economou - TMS Group
George Economou continues to invest in shipping, signing secondhand and newbuilding deals and updating to add to a fleet of 130 vessels already on the water
Since taking his DryShips company off Nasdaq three years ago, Mr Economou has been working — by his standards — more under the radar.
In the course of 2022, LNG carrier division TMS Cardiff Gas has placed orders for no fewer than seven more LNG carriers, which promise to bring its fleet to 23 LNG carriers.
His presence in LNG shipping has been built up substantially in the past few years, with no fewer than 11 of the existing fleet being delivered as newbuildings in 2020 and 2021.
He has also acquired three capesizes, three kamsarmaxes and a panamax from the secondhand market. They have brought the TMS Dry fleet of bulkers to a round 60 vessels in the water.
A series of eight ultramaxes of 63,500 dwt has been inked with Chinese yard Nantong Xiangyu for delivery in 2023 and 2024.
He has also placed orders for 10 bulkers, including four capesizes and six kamsarmaxes, at Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries for delivery in 2024 and 2025.
The TMS Tankers fleet of about 50 tankers, predominantly aframaxes and suezmaxes, was augmented in May 2022 with the acquisition of two new former Athenian Carriers very large crude carriers constructed at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.
The company has also ordered four suezmax newbuildings from New Times Shipbuilding in China.
Kostis Konstantakopoulos - Costamare
US‑listed company Costamare has expanded to about 120 vessels and its chief executive’s footprint in shipping appears to be broadening.
In the dry bulk sector Costamare acquired no fewer than 46 bulkers in the course of 2021.
Still predominantly a containership company, New York‑listed Costamare has, however, continued to impress.
In recent times, Mr Konstantakopoulos has additionally built up a significant fleet of privately and partly owned containerships, bulkers and tankers.
Costamare, the company has established Costamare Bulker Services offices in Copenhagen, Hamburg and Singapore, as well as Athens, and recruited experienced staff for the expanding bulker division.
The company’s 73 boxships had contracted revenue of about $3.5bn as the end of 2022.
Peter G. Livanos - GasLog/DryLog/EcoLog
Mr Livanos built GasLog, one of the world’s largest and best‑reputed owners of LNG carriers.
In May 2022, he unveiled EcoLog — by far the most ambitious shipping venture for carbon capture yet made public.
EcoLog is looking to build a fleet of 60 specialised CO2 carriers to provide a ‘virtual pipeline’ able to transport about 50m tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. GasLog has been enjoying a vastly improved market.
On top of an existing fleet of 21 LNG carriers, it has four more on order for delivery in 2024‑2025.
A plan to order two additional newbuildings did not materialise when the owner decided against moving forward on its letter of intent with the shipbuilder.
NYSE‑listed GasLog Partners, which owns another 13 steam and TFDE LNG carriers. In recent years, it it has also branched out into the floating storage and regasification segment.
He continues to have a significant interest in bulkers through DryLog, which has been quietly adding tonnage and now controls more than 30 owned and chartered‑in vessels.
DryLog’s business includes a 50% stake in Global Chartering Ltd, a joint venture with steel and mining giant ArcelorMittal, and London‑based DryLog Trading.
Evangelos Marinakis - Capital Group
Apart from his spectacular shipping activities Mr. Marinakis owns Olympiacos FC and Nottingham Forest and Greece’s biggest media group. He is indisputably in the big league when it comes to shipping, too.
Mr Marinakis’s Capital Group controls nearly 100 vessels, exceeding 10.5m dwt and valued at about $9bn. During 2021 and the first 10 months of 2022, it was involved in 75 transactions worth $5.5bn.
The 47 vessel acquisitions among these, including 32 newbuilding orders, can overwhelmingly be classed as investments in greener ships.
Conversely, the 26 disposals were mainly of older tonnage and, characteristically, a sprinkling of smart profit‑taking on boxships.
Orders have included liquefied natural gas‑and ammonia‑ready very large crude carriers, plus ‘future‑proof’ rotor sails‑ready medium range tankers and LNG carriers.
On the containership front, the group has begun taking delivery of a programme of 16 new vessels. Among them are a trio of 13,200 teu eco reefer boxships and 13 feederships and feedermax vessels of between 1,800 teu and 2,800 teu that are said to be among the greenest yet to hit the market.
Behind the scenes, Capital is involved in a great number of projects researching the more promising solutions to reduce shipping’s greenhouse gas footprint.
In the past couple of years, Mr Marinakis’s biggest investment has been in the LNG sector, with a total of 14 174,000 cbm newbuildings ordered at Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Samho.
So far, six have been delivered and acquired by the group’s publicly listed affiliate, Nasdaq‑listed Capital Product Partners. He also acquired a 20‑year‑old steam turbine LNG carrier for about $30m‑plus, then promptly chartered it for five to six months at more than $165,000 per day.
Finally Capital has four capesizes and a recently acquired kamsarmax.
George M. Logothetis - Libra Group
Lomar acquired 96 containerships between 2008 and 2020, including no fewer than 43 feeder newbuildings ordered at a combined cost of more than $1bn over a decade beginning in 2011.
Lomar —has cashed in with more than $1.5bn of lucrative boxship sales since the long‑awaited market recovery in July.
Recently acquired venerable Bremen‑based shipping company Carl Buttner and its fleet of seven product and chemical tankers in a $160m deal.
Lomar’s presence in the sector consisted of only two smaller tankers. Earlier in 2022, it acquired three panamax bulkers from Golden Ocean Group.
Beyond its traditional shipping activities, Lomar has signalled its willingness to look at port terminal investments.
Libra has also focused on clean energy technology and projects.
Semiramis Paliou - Diana Shipping/Helmepa
Diana’s Shipping chief executive Semiramis Paliou leads two US‑listed dry bulk shipping companies and has been elected as chairperson of the Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association, known as Helmepa.
Ms Paliou has led the company into a new market segment with the mid‑2022 acquisition of nine ultramaxes from Sea Trade Holdings.
The $330m deal, which was one‑third paid for with company shares, has expanded the fleet to 43 bulkers.
Another new development recently saw Diana conclude sale‑and‑leaseback deals for two of its capesizes. In doing so, it became one of the first Greek owners to complete a transaction of this kind with a Japan‑based counterparty.
Her second dry bulk company, OceanPal, was launched on Nasdaq in November 2021 to provide a different kind of dividend to Diana shareholders and to establish a vehicle for a more opportunistic approach to the market.
Spot‑oriented OceanPal is now up to four bulk carriers and has first‑refusal rights over certain other older bulkers in the Diana fleet.
Ms Paliou led 40th anniversary celebrations for the voluntary organisation, which also has a remit outside shipping to increase public awareness in Greece and initiate coastal clean‑up projects.
Elpi Petraki and Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou - Wista
Elpi Petraki was elected president of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association in October 2022, replacing Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, who held the post for an impressive five years.
Ms Petraki pledged to continue the momentum built over the years, but while much has been achieved in terms of gender diversity in the maritime industry.
Ms Petraki, who is responsible for chartering, operations and business development at product tanker operator Enea Management of Greece, has been president of Wista Hellas since 2020.
Ms Theodosiou, former Wista president, commented the results from a survey with 60% of all female seafarers reporting bullying. She said that it should be a “wake‑up call” for the maritime industry.
Wista is working hard to highlight the need for the maritime sector to move from “equality to equity,” she said, as equity ensures everyone has a fair opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents according to their circumstances.
Dorothea Ioannou - The American P&I Club
She is the first woman to be appointed as chief executive at any of the 13 clubs that currently make up the International Group.
The abilities of Dorothea Ioannou — a New York lawyer by training — have long been obvious to everyone.
In 2017, she was named as the outstanding next‑generation talent at the Lloyd’s List Global Awards for her work as global business development director at Shipowners’ Claims Bureau, the manager of The American P&I Club.
As the first woman to sit on its executive committee, she was credited with securing substantial growth in the marine mutual’s entered tonnage. She was also a driving force in the development of American Hellenic, the club’s commercial hull offering.
Source: Lloyd's List
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