Thanks, but no thanks.
That essentially was the message from New York-listed Genco Shipping & Trading on Tuesday to Greek shipping magnate George Economou as it rejected his two nominees to the company’s board of directors and appointed its own candidate.
The Manhattan-based dry bulk outfit has tapped Rio Tinto veteran Paramita Das to become Genco’s seventh director.
Genco said it acted on a search process that began in the middle of 2023, or months before Economou became involved as a 5.4% shareholder.
At the same time, Genco told Economou that it had rebuffed his nomination of Randee Day and Robert Pons to the board.
It said: “They respectively are not additive to our board’s existing skills and expertise or lack sufficient expertise in shipping and related industries.”
As TradeWinds has reported, Economou revealed his stake in Genco just after Christmas and on 10 January announced he was forwarding Pons and Day as board nominees.
He touted their “highly relevant backgrounds that would, in my view, be additive to the boardroom and would help address Genco’s lagging performance”.
Economou’s move came within months of activism in which he has taken investment stakes in Performance Shipping, OceanPal and Seanergy Maritime.
Economou has lobbied for director changes in both OceanPal and Performance, and is suing the latter in New York state court for alleged breach of fiduciary duties.
Das becomes the third woman of the seven directors, joining former OMI chief financial officer Kathleen Haines and MF Shipping Group chief executive Karin Orsel.
Genco’s board is headed by AMA Capital Partners president James Dolphin. It also includes longtime shipbroker Basil Mavroleon, private equity stalwart Arthur Regan and Genco chief executive John Wobensmith.
Das most recently served as global head of marketing, development and environmental, social and corporate governance, metals and minerals for mining giant Rio Tinto from 2022 to last month.
She has held other roles at Rio Tinto since 2019. She currently serves on the board of Coeur Mining.
“Paramita is a highly respected global leader who brings a deep understanding of the commodities market, which are vital to Genco, as well as further diversity to our board,” Dolphin said.
“Her appointment follows a comprehensive search process with the assistance of a leading executive search firm that was well underway mid-last year.”
Das said Genco was “a company I was drawn to given its leadership in the dry bulk shipping sector and commitment to strong corporate governance”.
Day has been head of consulting group Day & Partners, has 35 years in the business and is a director at International Seaways.
She recently resigned from a board seat at Connecticut’s Eagle Bulk Shipping, which is about to be acquired by Star Bulk Carriers.
She was interim chief executive of DHT Maritime, now called DHT Holdings.
Pons is CEO of Spartan Advisors and is identified as having served on boards of 16 listed companies over a 40-year career.
Genco has seen directors leave the board in recent years as the private equity firms for whom they worked reduced investment stakes in the dry bulk company, which operates 45 bulkers in the capesize, ultramax and supramax sectors.
