Much of the story behind the break-up of the Liberian flag’s managers and its former Greek representatives Captain Nikolaos Soutos and Alexandros Soutos remains untold, sources with insight into the relationship have told TradeWinds.
Father and son were recently ousted after 50 successive years as Liberia's honorary general consuls in Greece, the last 20 years as representatives of the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR) under the name Legality Holdings.
Both LISCR and Legality Holdings won multiple court orders to keep background information under seal. But a number of colourful details slipped past the lawyers.
LISCR officials told the court that after they had grown unimpressed with Alexandros Soutos' performance in his father's former role, the younger Soutos sought to demonstrate his value in the Greek market and expand his remit from Liberia to Luxembourg, a flag the Cohen family companies also manage.
In one case, he tried to sign on one prominent Greek shipowner over the phone, live from LISCR's Virginia offices.
An email message to Harry Vafias that remains in the court record recaps Soutos' unsuccessful attempt to woo Brave Maritime's 33,190-dwt open-hatch bulker Outrider (built 2016) away from Malta to become the first Greek ship under the Luxembourg flag.
But Vafias turned the deal down on price. According to Soutos, under Malta's fee policies he would not have to pay the cost of an International Transport Workers’ Federation "blue card" to show labour compliance.
Extensive depositions of Captain Soutos make it clear that he regarded his ouster as a poor turn after many years' service to Liberia.
Following one extensive blacked-out passage in the record, Nikolaos Soutos commented on the origins of his relationship to LISCR:
"Back in the 1980s, I was — and I will provide you with the document — I was in the list of the top 100 Greeks in terms of our wealth. So I needed no Liberia. I needed no one, no Yoram back then. He came here, he came to visit me in Piraeus in this very office to ask for my help to ask for getting him into the game, as we say."
LISCR and Legality Holdings officials did not comment on the dispute, which is the subject of a pending appeal in the US Fourth Circuit appeals court.
