New York's Genco Shipping & Trading has broken the three-year stranglehold of Connecticut neighbour Eagle Bulk Shipping atop analyst Michael Webber's annual corporate governance scorecard.
The sixth iteration of the report, now renamed the Webber Research ESG Scorecard, sees John Wobensmith-led Genco at the top for the first time.
But there are only small changes at the head of the rankings: the top six finishers are the same as last year, just in a different order.
Belgian tanker owner Euronav climbed to runner-up position this year from sixth, while International Seaways, Eagle Bulk and Ardmore Shipping rounded out the top five.
Webber called the owners "pretty tightly grouped, with relatively minimal quantitative differences".
Cyprus-based bulker owner Castor Maritime was a new entrant to the listings and finished bottom of the 52 owners surveyed by a considerable margin, Webber said.
Three other new entrants fared better, as Russia's Sovcomflot (SCF Group) placed 15th, Israeli liner operator Zim scored 27th and Rhode Island-based bulker owner Pangaea Logistics Solutions slotted 31st.
A couple of major trends emerged — one encouraging and the other perhaps not.
Webber last year imposed a 20% weighting on whether companies report their carbon emissions. An improved total of 71% met the criteria under Webber's model, up from 42% from last year. Still others have reports in the works, he said.
The other trend saw a break from the traditional correlation between weaker governance practices and poor financial returns.
Shipowners rated in the bottom half of Webber's table have outperformed their better-rated peers over the past 12 to 18 months, although they still underperformed when measured over three years and five years.
For example, companies rated in the bottom quadrant have seen a total return of 81% year to date and 210% over the past year, against 49% and 73% returns for those in the top quadrant.
Yet the same bottom dwellers show losses of 24% and 40% over three years and five years, compared to gains of 18% and 91% for the top group.
"Given the robust improvement in sector fundamentals and the significant shift in market sentiment exiting the pandemic, a number of higher-beta names have significantly outperformed over the past 12-18 months, many of whom rank in the bottom half of our scorecard," Webber wrote.
"While that performance is certainly notable, we also believe it's somewhat expected at this stage in the cycle and we continue to believe in (and the data continues to support) a significant long-term relationship between strong corporate governance and equity outperformance."
Much like at the top of the rankings, the governance laggards remain largely the same group as last year, except for Castor.
Ranked from worse to better, they are Tsakos Energy Navigation, Safe Bulkers, StealthGas, Dynagas LNG Partners, Navios Maritime Acquisition, Global Ship Lease, Navios Maritime Partners, Danaos Corp and Nordic American Tankers.
Castor, which gained a spot on the Nasdaq through a direct equity listing, has acquired 15 bulkers and eight tankers on the secondhand market since last July, spending about $340m in the process. The capacity of its 26-ship fleet is now 2.2m dwt.
