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Muses from Greece
The shipping community as a whole has clearly enjoyed the creation of vast amounts of wealth over the past few years as discussed throughout this issue. One of the most important and most visible microcosms of this has been seen in the Greek shipping community. An inherently international lot, Greek owners have been among the most willing to shop the globe for ships, capital, legal systems, and virtually anything else. Their microcosm is thus one of the most representative of the global industry and is frequently a leading indicator for shipping trends.
With this in mind, we thought it might be worthwhile to share some notes and conversations that came from our recent Greek tour in order to profile where the market currently stands and better guess where the global market might be heading. Continue Reading
Petrofin: Shipping & Newton’s Law
Ted Petropoulos – PetrofinWe visited Ted Petropoulos and Isabella Constantinidou at Petrofin’s offices in Nea Kifissia to get the perspective of a Greek-based international financial services company. They shared with us their views on topics ranging from the quality of the Greek fleet and the future of the shipping markets to the implications for the industry of recent events in the debt and equity markets.
In terms of the credit crunch, Mr. Petropoulos was cautiously optimistic, anticipating a return to normalcy within 2008. Continue Reading
G.E. Bairactaris & Partners : Capital & Psyche
A unique vantage point on the Greek market comes from independent lawyer Vangelis Bairactaris of G.E. Bairactaris & Partners. Mr. Bairactaris, whose clients are primarily Greek ship owners, gave his candid view on the market. Among his observations were that by mid-October second hand dry S&P deal volume had fallen off substantially, versus one year or even six months prior. While there could be an argument made regarding credit availability, more important was the fact that while values on the one hand were justified by earnings for the short term, on the other hand there was an uncertainty and concern of the long term market by the small or medium size players, though economics are somewhat better on the wet side. Continue Reading
Alpha Bank: There’s No Place Like Home
While a willingness to scour the globe for lenders and investors can have a substantial impact on owners’ overall cost of capital, sometimes there’s no place like home. It’s hard to beat the convenience and efficiency of a banker who lives around the block and is available for coffee on a moment’s notice, so it’s no surprise that Greek banks are well-represented in the shipping industry. Even so, Alpha Bank, with $1.6 billion in exposure to the shipping industry in spring 2007, was the only one large enough to make it into our global shipping loan portfolio league table. Continue Reading
Architects of Wealth
by Jim Lawrence
For many the legendary names Niarchos, Onassis, Ludwig, Pao, Bergesen and Moeller are synonymous with the great golden days of shipping in the early 70s, when mere voyages were all it took to repay a new building loan. When a shipowner married a former president’s widow, and a single shipping company could be an entire Nation’s pride and joy. Giant corporations such as IBM sought the great men out to sit on their boards. Yes, those were heady days and history clearly treats the men at the helm as giants. For a generation of ship owners who steered the industry through the shoals of the late 70s and most of the 80s only to enjoy some modest fortune as the Asian economies began to grow and influence trade, images of Maria Callas and Jackie O provided a glamorous backdrop reminder of how good shipping might be compared to their decades of really hard work.
2007 Draws to a Close
And what a year it’s been. Marked by skyrocketing dry bulk markets, somewhat less stellar but improved wet markets, and a vicious credit crunch, whose reach has gradually gone beyond transaction volume into cut into staff – and some holiday parties. Still, the bankers we’ve talked to have remained extremely busy and transaction volume continues to flow, if a little more cautiously. Chembulk and TECO have closed their respective acquisitions, and Teekay, Navios and OSG have successfully spun out new parts of their businesses to the public markets. Mr. Economou has flipped his Ocean Rig stake from private interests to public within days of purchasing it.
As we remember the year gone by please take a moment, if you haven’t already, to nominate your favorite transaction(s) from 2007 either through our anonymous submission form at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=VHHjXJnAw3UzphYnjLhgBg_3d_3d or by sending an email to nhuvane@marinemoney.com.
Please note that our US offices will be closed the week of December 24th and there will be no new edition of Freshly Minted published. We wish you all a very merry Christmas, a happy and prosperous New Year, and look forward to welcoming you back in 2008.
Taxing Matters
US MARAD CCF Program Extended to Container and Ro/ro Vessels
Signed into law yesterday by President Bush, H.R. 6, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, achieved a highly important U.S. maritime community objective.
A highly important and long-sought objective of the U.S. maritime community became law yesterday, with President Bush’s extension of the Maritime Administration Capital Construction Fund (“CCF”) program to vessels engaged in container and roll-on/rolloff (“ro/ro”) services in projects nationwide.
Contained in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, subtitle on “Green Jobs, Marine Transportation, Short Sea Transportation,” the CCF extension is expected to attract financing for a new generation of U.S. flag vessels that will “move motor vehicles from the highways to the waterways” – to reduce national diesel and gasoline consumption, help attack ever-worsening Interstate highway congestion problems, and improve air quality. Continue Reading
The Week in Review 12/20/2007
2007 Draws to a Close
And what a year it‘s been.Marked by skyrocketing dry bulk markets, somewhat less stellar but improved wet markets, and a vicious credit crunch, whose reach has gradually gone beyond transaction volume into cut into staff ‚Äì and some holiday parties. Still, the bankers we‘ve talked to have remained extremely busy and transaction volume continues to flow, if a little more cautiously. Chembulk and TECO have closed their respective acquisitions, and Teekay, Navios and OSG have successfully spun out new parts of their businesses to the public markets. Mr. Economou has flipped his Ocean Rig stake from private interests to public within days of purchasing it. As we remember the year gone by please take a moment, if you haven‘t already, to nominate your favorite transaction(s) from 2007 either through our anonymous submission form at: Continue Reading
The Official Guide To Marine Finance Providers
Shipping Index
