An 11-year Eagle Bulk Shipping veteran who has played a key role in the company's fleet renewal and expansion has been rewarded with a promotion.

Costa Tsoutsoplides has been named to the newly created position of chief strategy officer, the New York-listed shipowner announced after market close on Wednesday.

Tsoutsoplides is one of the few Eagle senior managers to be a holdover from the "old" Eagle team in place before current chief executive officer Gary Vogel took over the helm in 2016.

He joined Eagle in 2010 when the owner was still based in Manhattan and led by former CEO Sophocles Zoullas. Eagle took flight to Stamford, Connecticut, shortly after Vogel's arrival.

Tsoutsoplides will have broad responsibilities in developing Eagle’s corporate strategy, as well as leading capital markets initiatives. He will also oversee environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and investor relations.

Previously Eagle's senior director for strategy and business development, Tsoutsoplides will also retain his existing responsibilities, including mergers & acquisitions and vessel sale and purchase.

"I am pleased to announce Costa’s well-deserved promotion. He is one of the company’s longest-tenured employees and has played an instrumental role in helping shape and implement our corporate strategy," Vogel said in a statement.

"Over the past five years, we have been able to completely transform the business through the cyclical uptrend, positioning Eagle as one of the leading integrated dry bulk shipowner-operators."

Eagle has grown and renewed its fleet through sale-and-purchase and merger-acquisition transactions that have encompassed 49 ships.

"At the same time, we have successfully utilised the capital markets in order to source opportunistic growth capital and optimize the balance sheet," Vogel said.

Prior to joining Eagle, Tsoutsoplides spent a total of eight years at Citigroup, in both foreign exchange corporate sales and high yield debt sales.

He holds a master's in business administration from New York University's Stern School of Business and a bachelor's degree in economics from Boston University.