Greek shipowner Nikolas Tsakos had all the laughter on his side at the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum in Athens when he compared the state of the green fuel debate with that of vaccines for the Covid pandemic.
Picking between LNG, methanol, nuclear or other propulsion fuels “is very much like the virus — you have Johnson & Johnson, you have Moderna, you have Pfizer — you don’t know what to choose,” he said on Tuesday.
Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN), the company the Greek businessman founded and listed on the New York Stock Exchange exactly 30 years ago, is ordering a series of LNG-fuelled tankers, a quartet of which it is taking delivery in South Korea.
That choice, however, primarily reflects the choices of its charterers Equinor rather than his own, Tsakos told the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum in Athens.
“We follow our clients’ requirements. I’m not sure I would order myself an LNG-fuelled ship opportunistically,” Tsakos said.
The shipping market is “in a confused state”, he explained.
The situation reminded him of when TEN went public in the early 1990s in order to gather funds to maintain its position as a major tanker owner when the industry had to switch to double-hull ships.
The challenge then focused on ship design while today it has mainly to do with the engine design, Tsakos said.
Family business
The Greek owner also took the opportunity to remember his mother Dr Irene Saroglou-Tsakou, who died in July.
A trained doctor, Saroglou-Tsakou, wife of group founder Capt Panagiotis Tsakos, devoted her science to seafarers and became a pioneer in marine medicine.
“Apart from being a loving and supporting mother, she was a dynamic lady active until her last days,” Tsakos said.
“It is hard to lose a mother, she was an inspiration,” he added.
As older generations pass, however, new ones are involved in the business. All of Nikolas Tsakos’ three children — two daughters and one son — “enjoy the business”, he said.
Tsaksos’ two daughters are currently studying law and engineering at Columbia University in New York, while the son is on broker training in London.
The Tsakos family controls more than 40% of TEN.
“I believe public companies need strong sponsorship,” Tsakos said.
