Genco Shipping & Trading has nailed down its second straight title in the latest edition of the ESG Scorecard by Webber Research & Advisory.
The New York-listed bulker owner repeated atop the pack of 52 listed shipowners, operators, container lessors and bunker players, edging out multiple champion Eagle Bulk Shipping of Connecticut.
The US shipowners were first and second in the 2021 environmental, social and governance scorecard.
Joining the bulker companies in the top five were container ship operator Matson, Ireland-based product tanker owner Ardmore Shipping and Belgian tanker giant Euronav.
There were also some familiar faces at the bottom of the rankings.
Cyprus-based Castor Maritime, which rapidly built a fleet of 28 on the back of repeat equity raises through the Maxim Group, again finished dead last of the 52 owners.
Tsakos Energy Navigation came 51st, the same as last year.
Rounding out the bottom five were Harry Vafias-led StealthGas, Greek shipowner Safe Bulkers and Dynagas LNG Partners.
“We believe there is no longer a place in the public shipping markets for companies that do not prioritise strong corporate governance and capital stewardship,” said the research team led by Michael Webber.
Just missing the bottom five was Angeliki Frangou’s Navios Maritime Partners, but its 47th place finish was two spots worse than its 45th spot in 2021.
In a recent interview with TradeWinds, Frangou touted Navios’ governance as of the “highest standard”.
Webber said the top 13 shipping companies in his ranking had outperformed the bottom quartile by 35% over a five-year period and 98% since the scorecard’s inception.
In contrast, the bottom dozen had underperformed by 30% over five years and 63% since inception.
For the third straight year, the scorecard considers whether owners report their carbon emission levels, giving the question a 20% weight in the overall ranking.
This year, 79% of owners did disclose numbers, up from 71% in 2021.
“We’re also aware of a few companies still in the process of aggregating, auditing and eventually disclosing relevant carbon data to investors, which should continue to improve the overall level of disclosure,” Webber said.
Rounding out the top 10 companies were VLCC owner DHT Holdings, bunker supplier World Fuel Services, container lessor Triton International, Singapore bulker operator Grindrod Shipping and New York tanker owner International Seaways. All were in the top group in 2021.
Filling out the bottom group were Hoegh LNG Partners, Herbjorn Hansson’s Nordic American Tankers, Greek bulker owner Seanergy Maritime, which was ranked for the first time, and container ship owner Global Ship Lease.
