Christos Matarangas, the former co-managing director of a tanker pool shut down by the Schoeller family earlier this year, is returning to the market with a new company.
Matarangas, who left United Product Tankers (UPT) before the German clan pulled the plug on it a few months ago, is now the managing director of Zafira Shipping & Trading.
The new company will operate out of Athens, Limassol and Dubai.
Its purpose is to “offer knowledge and skill-based services to the shipping and energy industries, while creating vehicles for long-term investments in maritime assets through synergies and partnerships”, Matarangas said in a LinkedIn post.
According to its website, Zafira focuses on tonnage between 12,000 dwt and 105,000 dwt, in both clean and dirty markets, as well as in light chemicals and soft oils.
TradeWinds understands that the company is already managing a few clean tanker assets and has been involved in at least one chartering deal with a large commodity trader.
A former UPT man has also been hired to man Zafira’s Limassol office.
Matarangas aims to use the market knowledge and contacts accumulated during his more than two decades in the market to attract private investors and help build a fleet.
“We offer investors the opportunity to participate in dynamic shipping markets by taking full or part positions in time charters and freight trading opportunities,” the company says on its website.
Matarangas was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden, where his family had been for generations.
He arrived in Hamburg to join UPT when the firm was launched in 2003.
Since May, Matarangas has also been serving as managing director of Limassol-based Kalydna Investments.
