Cypriot shipping fund Pelagic Partners has expanded its top team with the appointment of experienced finance man Michalis Vasiliou as an executive director.
The owner of tankers and offshore wind vessels said the qualified accountant worked for KPMG in Cyprus from 2007 to 2022.
He served as a board member and head of the asset management services division.
Vasiliou was also chairman of the investment funds committee of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus and chairman of the alternative investment funds committee of the Cyprus Investment Funds Association (CIFA).
Pelagic was set up two years ago by German owner Hartmann Group’s chief executive Niels Hartmann and Atef Abou Merhi.
Already this week, the company has increased its tanker exposure in a deal with Hartmann Group.
Its second fund, Pelagic Yield Fund (PYF), has acquired the 73,500-dwt Summit Africa, an LR1 product carrier built in China in 2009.
The vessel is currently trading in the Hafnia Pool.
The first Pelagic fund controls $70m of assets through ownership across eight vessels.
The overall fleet now stands at 11 ships, including four LPG carriers, a handysize bulker, a car carrier and other tankers.
Pelagic has also contracted two firm commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs) and four optional vessels at India’s Cochin Shipyard in a deal worth more than €350m ($352m) with its third fund, Pelagic Wind Fund.
The new methanol-ready offshore wind farm ships are due in the first quarter of 2025.
Pelagic Wind Fund aims to add further secondhand assets to the fleet to become a key player in this growing industry.
