"We are now engaged — because we first have to finalise all the technical, financial and legal aspects — and, once we will be married, I promise you we will have many children."
Nicolas Saverys on his dream wedding to John Fredriksen. But who bought the ring?
"The most remarkable shipowner, ship trader and also 'chouchou'".
Saverys on Fredriksen. Flattery got him everywhere.
Exmar LNG targets rapid fleet growth
"A marriage made in hell."
But one industry player believes there could be trouble ahead for the happy couple if Fredriksen runs out of patience.
"Creating Exmar LNG puts Saverys in a better position financially to pursue the business he has been chasing. But it also gives Fredriksen a strategic partner that he can easily 'gobble up' when the time is right."
An LNG expert also sounds a warning. Sign that pre-nup!
Industry offers an initial thumbs up to new venture
"What I will tell you is Virgin has a secret source. They know how to do it in a cheeky, fun way. They have done it in the airline industry, they have done it in hotels and in mobile phones. We know how to put those elements together in a way that only Virgin can do."
Virgin Cruises boss Tom McAlpin promises the company's own special twist on cruising.
"But, in reality, if you think about the Virgin brand and you think about Miami, both of them could be described as hot, sassy, sexy and international. We have to fish where the fish are."
McAlpin again. This may be true of some people, but TradeWinds just thinks of Richard Branson, to whom those words are perhaps less readily applied.
Virgin bets on smaller cruiseships to deliver a unique experience
"Many ships, and some of ours, are not making much money in Brazil as it is. I think there will probably be more than 20 ships that will lose charters and, when they do, they will probably go into layup and some local offices will close. This could be the end for some owners in Brazil."
An offshore owner foretells armageddon as Petrobras cuts back.
Up to 50 foreign ships risk losing Petrobras contracts
"Fredriksen's STX order really hurt, as it suggested that [a] lack of orders in the yards is going to put downward pricing on vessel values and act as sea anchors to NAV appreciation."
A finance man comes up with an explanation for Gener8's underwhelming IPO.
"Some of the smartest minds in the business told them it was a good idea to put their money in dry bulk. Now they're hearing the same thing about tankers. It's not surprising that they ask, well, if the experts could be wrong about dry bulk…"
And another source says investors may have turned twice shy after being bitten once by bulkers.
Investors burned in bulk now wary of tankers
"Our ambition is to grow the company into the world's leading tanker company."
Robert Hvide Macleod after the Frontlines merger. Did you really expect him to say anything else? "We're happy just to continue as we are"? "We just do what we do and if anyone else likes it, that's a bonus"? "We feel that smaller is the way to go. We'd like to knock off at 5pm"? No, us neither.
