Page 28 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - MARTIOS 2023

GREEK MARITIME HERITAGE

ë Greek shipowners have always
followed a counter-cyclical
fleet growth strategy. Do you
think that over the years and
with charter markets making
significant profits, they are
diversifying that strategy?
What do you think of business
schemes that enter shipping
with the sole aim of asset
playing?
We should all bear in mind that a ship
is a ‘consumer product’; in other words,
it has a fixed lifespan and, therefore, an
expiration date. Thus, in my opinion, the
shipowner has probably recovered the
invested capital by that date, which is a
shorter period for oil tankers. “Bad” ship-
ping market cycles are longer, and there
are no “significant gains”, as you put it,
which is why "asset playing" is important
so that ship owners can push ahead and
add new, more technologically advanced
ships to their fleets.
ì How do you see the maritime
trade map being reshaped by
the recent geopolitical crises?
Which types of ships and trade
routes do you think will ben-
efit from the emerging new
order?
It is too early to answer your question. It
will take time for the new trade routes
to evolve.

ï In the 2000s, many shipping
companies of Greek interests
one of the collection’s first acquisitions, chose to turn to international
moves me deeply. It is a depiction of the financial markets to raise cap-
heroic death of a group of young men ital. Under what conditions
in the village of Skouleni during the can such ventures prove to be
first year of the Revolution. The young profitable? Why do you think
fighter depicted, one of the first to fall, shipping stocks do not attract
is writing to his mother, in his own blood, much investment interest
the moving phrase “Μήτηρ θνήσκω υπέρ despite shipping’s contribu-
πατρίδος, 1821” [trans. Mother, I am dying tion to the global economy?
for my country, 1821]. For me, this phrase It was an important development, which
sums up the essence of the struggle is still affecting shipping companies,
and proves the strength of the Greek especially now with the presence of LNG
consciousness, which was preserved for and large container vessels, which are
centuries and drove the Greeks towards huge investments requiring more capital.
independence. People often fail to understand the cycli-
cality of shipping and expect quick prof-
its. Shipping is no different from other
industries, so one has to be patient.

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