Greek shipowner Simeon Palios has been struck down by the coronavirus, making him the latest high-profile shipping personality to suffer from the Covid-19 disease.

"Chairman and chief executive officer, Mr Simeon Palios, has tested positive for the novel Covid-19 virus," his US-listed company, Diana Shipping, said in a terse regulatory filing on Tuesday.

"The board of directors has appointed the company’s deputy chief executive officer, Mrs Semiramis Paliou, as acting chief executive officer on a temporary basis."

The statement did not elaborate on the state of Palios' health. TradeWinds understands that the 79-year-old is being treated for symptoms of the disease in an Athens hospital.

Semiramis is Palios' daughter. She was elevated to the post of Diana's deputy chief executive in October last year, as part of a succession plan for her father, who is the company's founder.

Palios is also chief executive at tanker outfit Performance Shipping, whose deputy CEO since last October is Andreas Michalopoulos, a son-in-law.

The Covid-19 pandemic struck at the highest echelons of Greece's shipping community well before it hit Palios. On 10 March, owner Evangelos Marinakis announced he had contracted the disease. The 52-year-old head of Capital Maritime & Trading is understood to have since recovered.

One of the first, non-fatal victims of the disease in Greece was the wife of a senior shipping executive at Kyklades Maritime.

Shipping figures in other parts of the world were hit as well, such as Rick Cotton, the head of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Greek shipping companies are operating on skeleton staff, with most employees working from home after the country's authorities banned all idle circulation on 22 March. Schools, universities, restaurants and retail stores have been on lockdown for much longer.

Twenty people have died in Greece so far, among nearly 750 confirmed cases.

The switch to remote operations seems to be working smoothly, even at companies that saw senior executives affected. Earlier on Tuesday, Diana announced that SwissMarine fixed the 98,700-dwt Amphitrite (built 2012) at $10,250 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for between 13 and 15 months.