“I am very happy. I am very busy with what I am doing now in my business, in my team and with the local council. So I’m fulfilled and content.”

Owning a fleet and a football club works for Evangelos Marinakis but does the talent extend to his toes?

“At this time political parties don’t matter. What matters is our country. What matters is if the country will exist in Europe, in the Eurozone.”

Marinakis, the Piraeus politician, rather than the shipowner or soccer boss.

(Marinakis. The man behind the legend)

“It is unfair that European ships cannot engage in cabotage or even international feedering operations in the US because of the so-called Jones Act, while US shipping companies don’t suffer from such restrictions here in Europe. It is unacceptable that market access is so blatantly one-sided.”

A warning shot from leading European parliamentarian and former Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt.

(Where next for Europe?)

“One-year charters are really driven by traders and not by the majors. The traders play to win. It’s their business to trade, the commodity and the ship. Majors are playing not to lose. They want safe transport in the long term, with the proper companies and the proper equipment.”

Faith in the spot market affirmed by Svein Moxnes Harfjeld of DHT Holdings.

(Spot is vital for big tanker bucks)

“Play the other players. Watch them closely. Look for the sucker in the room, and if he’s not there, get out, because it’s probably you.”

Shipping guru, Martin Stopford, counsels that it’s time to take your eyes off the BDI and pick up a few tips from the likes of Stu Ungar.

(Forecasting pundit slams shipping star gazing at Hamburg money forum)

“There is still room to store onshore so we basically are not there yet on what we need in Brent contango to go to floating storage levels.....We now have $7 contango to store for 12 months. Maybe we need $13 or $14, something like that.”

Lack of information on the extent of floating storage is leading the market a dance according to DNB Markets analyst Torbjorn Kjus.

(Growing contango gap could generate more storage work)

“I would like to clarify that Turkey, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are doing scrapping the same way. You call our way ‘beaching’, and you call their way ‘landing’ — but it is exactly the same.”

Mohammed Zahirul Islam of PHP Shipbreaking protests that Bangladesh is being unfairly targeted by Norwegian shipowners.

“We would love to work, as we have done for decades, with the shipbreaking yards in Bangladesh but we have to have a standard we can live with.”

But Tor Christian Sletner of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association protests there is a sound basis to a recommendation against scrapping in Bangladesh.

(Bangladeshis angry over Norway scrapping policy)

“It is refreshing to hear them ‘tell it like it is’ when others stick to the same script from 2007 about how great China and India are and how scrapping is really strong. Obviously, none of those things have been good enough to help the market. That said, the calls do get depressing at times.”

Plaudits for the ‘Oracle of Athens’ from Jonathan Chappell of Evercore ISI.

(Diana gets kudos for ‘tell it like it is’ market appraisal)