US-listed Safe Bulkers moved into new wholly owned offices in Cyprus, inviting dozens of friends and colleagues to a reception and dinner party late last month to celebrate the event.
The modern glass-and-steel construction offers impressive views over Limassol, the Mediterranean island’s shipping capital and one of the biggest maritime hubs in Europe.
Safe Bulkers chief executive Polys Hajioannou hails from Pedhoulas, a mountain village about an hour’s drive from Limassol.
It’s exactly the right place to do global business without distractions
Polys Hajioannou
He said that seeing his home island also become an increasingly attractive place for business is deeply gratifying.
“It’s exactly the right place to do global business without distractions,” the owner said in front of several guests at the reception, which coincided with a Capital Link forum in Limassol the next day. Safe Bulkers also maintains offices in Athens.
Guests included shipowner Andreas Hadjiyiannis of Cyprus Maritime, Charalambos Mylonas of Transmed and Cypriot shipping minister Natasa Pilides. From further afield came Hirotomo Okumura of Tsuneishi Shipbuilding, Kazuya Mizuno of Imabari Shipbuilding, Hiroshi Ogihara of Itochu Corp and Michihiro Enomoto of Bank of Tokyo Leasing. Bankers included Eleni Vrettou of HSBC, Alex Ryland of DNB and Markus Wenker of Hellenic Bank.
Guests were treated to a rarity in the reception room — a hand-drawn depiction of Safe Bulkers' principals, offered by Tsuneishi last year.
The drawing is a testament to the company's contribution to the birth of the kamsarmax. Tsuneishi's decision to develop the new ship type back in the early 2000s was partly due to talks with Polys and Nicolas Hajioannou. The Greek duo suggested building a slightly longer panamax that would increase carrying capacity while maintaining a shallow draught.
Since then, kamsarmaxes have been firmly established as the main bulker type in its size category.
