TRAGIC WEEK
Greek shipping and the wider community were in shock at the start of this week as tragedy struck. A lone gunman went on a shooting rampage in the offices of shipping company European Navigation, killing three people before turning the weapon on himself. Maria Karnessis, sister of principal Spyros Karnessis, and executive managing director Antonios Vlassakis were among the victims.
The same day shipping lost Angela Chao following her death in a car accident at the age of just 50. Foremost Group, a New York-headquartered owner of bulkers, announced the death of its chief executive and chair on Monday.
Her father James Chao, who will come out of retirement to lead the company, said: “From an early age, she displayed a delightful precociousness and fierce intellectual curiosity that endeared her to everyone and helped her excel at everything she did. As a daughter, sister, mother, aunt, wife and friend, she was unfailingly filial, thoughtful, kind and devoted.”
IN THE NEWS
Greek shipowners are leading a revival in sale and purchase activity for large bulk carriers buoyed by an unseasonably strong start to the year. Thenamaris scored the most eye-catching deal, sweeping up four newcastlemax vessels from Polaris amid intense competition among rival bidders. Compatriot Neda Maritime followed suit, snaring two vessels from Tor Olav Troim’s 2020 Bulkers. While the buyer has broken new ground by adding its largest bulkers to date, the seller has pouched a huge profit and is poised to pay a tidy dividend, analysts say.
Troim has also captured headlines in the tanker market. While the addition of two VLCC newbuildings is interesting in itself, the new trend for him to name shipping companies after mountain ranges is also catching the eye. VLCC company Andes Shipping follows the launch of bulker specialist Himalaya Shipping.
Also capturing the attention of TradeWinds readers this week was the exit of Sumitomo Heavy Industries from commercial shipbuilding. As one of Japan’s oldest and best-known shipbuilders, the shock move is further evidence of the Japanese shipbuilding industry’s decline amid fierce competition from South Korea and China. Sumitomo’s primary shipyard is located in Yokosuka, Japan, with a shipbuilding legacy dating back to 1897.
Court documents gave a rare look inside the fascinating world of Iranian oil trading. The former kingpin of Tehran’s oil sanctions-busting programme successfully demanded the return of a consignment of disguised Iranian crude during a dispute over a ship-to-ship transfer off Oman involving a Thenamaris VLCC, US prosecutors claimed.
Rostam Ghasemi, the late ex-oil minister who was said to go by the secret codename of “Roger”, said the operator of the 318,700-dwt Athina II (built 2005) needed to “cooperate” after mislabelled Iranian crude was discharged to the VLCC from a suspected shadow fleet tanker in November 2020, US court documents revealed.
QatarEnergy has been busy building on its record-breaking LNG newbuilding programme. First, it teamed with compatriot Nakilat on a 25-ship newbuilding deal to bring the world’s leading LNG vessel owner in on the play. At the same time, it turned to South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean for its next batch of LNG carrier berths.
On the subject of big-ticket deals, US finance firm EnTrust Global has struck to acquire Offshore Merchant Partners, the Norwegian alternative investment fund led by shipping veteran Ivar Myklebust. The deal will bring in a fund that has deployed some $700m in credit, lease finance and structured equity in the energy and maritime sectors. Myklebust told TradeWinds that EnTrust had been seeking a bigger footprint in Europe, particularly on OMP’s home turf in northern Europe, and the two companies have complementary industry and segment backgrounds.
INSIGHT
Our Singapore bureau chief Jonathan Boonzaier sat down with X-Press Feeders chief executive Francis Goh for an extended chat about a cleaner, greener future. The company that proclaims to be the largest common carrier in the liner sector was an early mover on green methanol as a marine fuel with its order of 14 cutting-edge 1,200-teu dual-fuel container ships in 2021. Now the ships are arriving and innovation is required to create the infrastructure to get the vessels trading.
LONG READ
Walid Salloum does not know how to take no for an answer if his interview with Adam Corbett is anything to go by. The trucking entrepreneur had big dreams of creating a shipping company. The broker he met in a London cafe told him his strategy would struggle to float. Salloum was not put off after his meeting with Clarksons’ shipbroker Fergus Duncan. With a phone full of contacts in the automotive industry, Salloum kept pushing and has grown a logistics business that is handling half a million cars annually.
