The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) Greek Branch was very honoured to welcome the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, Nusrat Munir Ul-Ghani MP, and Her Excellency Kate Smith CMG, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic to their premises on Tuesday 5th of June 2018, on the occasion of the official visit of Minister during the Posidonia Exhibition 2018. The British delegation met with members of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) Greek Branch and lecturers for both the Professional Qualification Examinations and The Queen Mary ...

Despite the fact that ship owners have been more inclined to acquire a second-hand vessel, rather than invest in a newbuilding these days, prices for the latter have started to inch higher. Contracting activity has picked up (that’s reason No1), but also many owners are opting for higher-spec vessels, which cost more. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Allied Shipbroking said that “with a fair amount of movement having been seen over the past couple of months, prices have started to show a fair upward pinch. In part this recent ...

Navios Maritime Partners L.P., an international owner and operator of container and dry bulk vessels, announced today that it took delivery of the Navios Altair I, a 2006-built, 74,475 dwt Panamax vessel on June 7, 2018. As previously announced, the vessel was acquired for a price of $11.0 million. The vessel is chartered out at a net rate of $9,844 per day until November 2018. Based on the existing charter and the current rate environment (Clarksons’ 1-year time charter rate for Panamax vessels as of June 1, 2018), the vessel ...

The Greek government is currently looking into a taxation plan that aims to attract foreign shipping interests seeking to invest, said the head of the country’s shipowners union, Theodoros Veniamis at the closing ceremony of the biennial Posidonia 2018 maritime trade show held at the Athens Metropolitan Expo last week. Dubbed “non dom”, the special tax regime will apply to foreign nationals, including diaspora Greeks active in shipping wishing to invest in the sector. A similar scheme has successfully been implemented in Italy and Cyprus with positive results, “why not ...

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a global shipping company focusing on the transportation of dry bulk cargoes, announced its unaudited financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018. Petros Pappas, Chief Executive Officer of Star Bulk, commented: “We are happy to report another profitable quarter, especially during the seasonally weak period of the year. We achieved $81.6 million in TCE Revenues, $46.4 million in Adjusted EBITDA and $9.9 million in Net Income for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. Our average TCE for the quarter was $12,586/ ...

A few years back, when oil prices were tumbling down, there was a sense of optimism among ship owners active in the tanker market, as there was the expectation that lower prices would yield more demand. This time around, an opposite scenario, coupled with geopolitical tensions around the world, seems to be developing. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Intermodal noted that “as observed last month the price of oil hit its highest level since November 2014 reaching $80 per barrel. Global oil demand growth for 2018 was slightly revised ...

SQLearn has a library of e-learning modules available under the Resilience Training Programme, entitled “Resilient Dolphin”, as part of its Dolphin Platforms services. Just in time for Posidonia 2018 the 8th module entitled “Maintain a hopeful outlook” is now available ( http://www.sqlearn.com/6008-resilience-training-programme-maintain-a-hopeful-outlook/ ). Resilience training for maritime is a concept that becomes more and more common and can prove to be of high importance to seafarers’ safety. When you have resilience, you harness inner strength that helps you rebound from a setback or challenge, such as a job loss, an illness, a disaster ...

Winterthur Gas Diesel (WinGD) a leading developer of two-stroke lowspeed gas and diesel engines has inaugurated a Winterthur Gas and Diesel – WinGD (ex-Sulzer) training centre in Piraeus equipped with the state of the art W-Xpert Full Mission Engine Room Simulator (FMS). Technava, the official representative of WinGD in Greece and Cyprus, will provide along with WinGD experts added value to Greek and Cypriot customers, by providing a new, state of the art simulator installed in its Schisto training center, for the training of seafarers and superintendent engineers, support during ...

In a lackluster market, trading a vessel in the right route is vital. In its latest weekly report, shipbroker Gibson said that “where to position tonnage has always been a key question for tanker owners. Having exposure to the right market can make the difference between a profitable or a loss making voyage. In the dynamic product tanker market, choosing the right place to be, at the right time can be even more challenging. So where should owners position their tonnage for the balance of the year? The Atlantic, the ...

Capesize Despite the major Posidonia event in Greece, rates for the big ships took off this week, with the stars seeming to be working in conjunction, with both the Pacific and Atlantic markets active. However, the dampener came as the week closed out and this despite Vale allegedly raiding the market and taking upwards of 10 ships direct with the owners/operators for July at rates around $19.00. Prior to this, Brazil had gained momentum with June and July cargoes fixed at levels nudging the high $19.00s and even a rumour ...

Greece aspires to become a regional marine bunkering and distribution hub for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Eastern Mediterranean through the European Union co-funded “Poseidon Med II” project, according to local officials. The 53.3-million-euro international project started in June 2015 and is scheduled to conclude in the end of 2020. It offers a roadmap for the extensive adoption of LNG as propulsion fuel for vessels in Greece, Italy and Cyprus with the participation of six ports: Venice in Italy, Piraeus, Patra, Iraklio and Igoumenitsa in Greece, and Limassol in ...

When it comes complying with the IMO’s 2020 0.5% low sulphur regulation scrubbers have not received much good press, but a mix of anlaysts,researchers and classification society officials at Posidonia all saw them as a good solution attracting serious interest especially forlarge vessels. Speaking at the Bimco Power Panel, Henriette Brent-Petersen, md and global head of shipping and offshore research at DVB Bank, said: “I think the market will be surprised how many investments we will see in scrubbers. The fleet is relatively young so for young assets if you ...

Economic crises cannot stop entrepreneurs from invading and changing the world. And Greek entrepreneurs aren’t exceptions to the rule. In the middle of an eight-year long crisis, Greek entrepreneurs are invading and changing London, bringing innovative products and franchises to the UK market. Last March, Mikel Coffee Community, a Greek franchise with 185 stores worldwide, opened up its first store at 93 Tottenham Court Rd, Bloomsbury, bringing Greece’s “third place” to the UK market. A few months earlier, Saucy Restaurants, another Greek franchise, opened two restaurants in downtown London, bringing ...

Two former Goldman Sachs partners have united to form a new private investment vehicle that will deploy money from one of Greece’s wealthiest shipping families. Sky News has learnt that Matthew Westerman and Julian Metherell, who both spent lengthy careers based at the Wall‎ Street’s European headquarters in London, have joined forces with Peter Livanos to launch MW&L Capital Partners. The new firm will initially focus on investing money with Mr Livanos, a member of one of Europe’s oldest shipping dynasties. It will target the deployment of long-term capital across ...

Posidonia 2018 will be remembered as the year that the world’s most prestigious shipping event tackled the accelerating pace of technological change head on. Disruptive technologies, digitalisation, AI, IoT, cyber security, blockchain, autonomous ships, surveys and ship deliveries by drone… all these subjects and more were discussed by conference panels and on the floor of the Athens Metropolitan Expo, which hosted a total of 2,010 exhibitors from 92 countries over the week June 4-8. This was also the year when new and established maritime hubs showcased their diverse offering, all ...