US bank Citi has named Vassilios Maroulis as its new global head of shipping.
The lender told TradeWinds the appointment was effective on 2 June.
The new boss will be working closely with US-based Christa Volpicelli in her role as global head of shipping investment banking, a spokeswoman added.
UK-based Maroulis was previously head of shipping for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Citi and has spent 17 years at the bank.
The long-serving deal-maker replaces Shreyas Chipalkatty, who took over from Michael Parker in 2019.
Citigroup has been building its investment banking unit in Europe, hiring senior bankers, launching new divisions and promoting key staff as it vies for the number one spot in the region.
Chipalkatty, currently on gardening leave, posted a picture to social media platform LinkedIn of himself outside the Citi office holding a Lego Maersk vessel.
He said he is “off to an exciting and rewarding new challenge, and gently transporting the precious Lego Maersk from my office is step one!”.
The outgoing boss has spent 23 years at Citi, 18 of those in shipping.
A beautiful whole
“My experiences have been rich and varied. Over these years, trusted relationships with clients, product partners, risk colleagues, banks all came together to build the beautiful whole we call the Citi Shipping franchise,” Chipalkatty added.
He compared the operation to the Lego Maersk vessel.
“Just like this ship, with its hundreds of building blocks relying on, and supporting, each other. Thank you all for your partnership. More to come after I hone my gardening skills over the summer,” the banker said.
Oystein Kalleklev, chief executive of Flex LNG and executive chairman of Avance Gas, said: “Best of luck, hope to see you around soon again.”
Savoir faire
Herve Lalli, corporate finance director at SBM Offshore, said he was “so grateful to our friends from Teekay to allow us to initiate and build the relationship between SBM and Citi and work so many years together”.
“You are such a nice person with so much ‘savoir vivre’. I enjoyed so much our meetings, always preferably outside of the office,” he added.
In 2019, Citi strengthened its management structure with a new role for global shipping head and industry doyen Parker.
Parker, who spearheaded the creation of the Poseidon Principles code for banks to progressively cut the carbon footprint of their shipping loan portfolios, stepped up to become chairman of global shipping and logistics.
Chipalkatty filled his global shipping role, moving from running the EMEA operations.
He was succeeded by Maroulis, at that time Citi’s Greek shipping head.
