Seavigour, one of nine Suezmax tankers in the Thenamaris fleet (source: Seavigour)
Greek and Cypriot tanker owners hold a special place among the pantheon of independent tanker owners, but who leads the pack?
The list of the top tanker owners in Greece and Cyprus contains some famous names and 2022 has been a busy year for many of them. Maran Tankers stands out as the number one owner of large tankers (defined as VLCCs, Suezmax and Aframax tankers) with a beneficially owned fleet of 56 tankers, according to VesselsValue, someway ahead of a chasing pack of owners with between 40 to 50 similar vessels. Maran Tankers is part of the Angelisoussis group of companies now headed by Maria Angelicousis, daughter of John Angelicoussis.
Mr Angelicoussis passed away in 2021 but his legacy of innovation and safety lives on. In June 2022, it was announced that Maran Tankers Management (MTM) had invested in computer technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve navigation safety.
MTM has chosen the Orca AI situational awareness system which provides seafarers with navigation information, enabling them to make data-driven decisions in congested waters using purpose-built machine learning and computer-vision algorithms. These provide information on fleet safety performance, enabling crew to identify areas for further improvement.
“US$100M buys about two-thirds of a VLCC”
“Maritime crude oil transport is a highly complex business,” said MTM managing director Mark Pearson. “Our safety-first approach, together with our openness to technological innovation, drives us to be on a constant lookout for cutting-edge solutions to lower safety risks,” he said. “With Orca AI, MTM fleet crews now have additional, highly advanced navigational equipment to use which allows data-driven, real-time decisions to be made.”
It is not known if it was Orca AI or plain good seafaring that led to the crew of MTM’s 2017-built Suezmax tanker Maran Hermione rescuing around 100 migrants from the Mediterranean in July 2022. Maran Hermione was asked by the Italian Coast Guard to participate in the rescue operation. Maran Hermione had been sailing south of Sicily when appointed ’scene commander’ by the Italian RCC. The rescue operation was successfully completed without any loss; an Italian Coast Guard vessel transferred the rescued people to land.
MTM will soon stretch its lead over the five Greek and Cypriot owners that beneficially-own between 40 and 50 large tankers. The average age of the MTM fleet is six years old and in 2023, the company is due to take delivery of four VLCCs, Antonis I Angelicoussis, Maria A Angelicoussis, Maran Danae, and Maran Dione. All four are under construction at Samsung.
Leading the chasing pack is Thenamaris, connected to Nikolas Martinos interests, which has a substantial fleet of Aframax-sized tankers in the water. The average age is nine years old but this will reduce slightly when two newbuildings from Hyundai Vietnam arrive in 2025. In November 2022, Thenamaris sold the 2004-built, 114,600 dwt Aframax tanker Seatrust to undisclosed interests for a reported US$35M with completed Special Survey. In June 2014, Thenamaris purchased Seatrust (then Sparto) from Enesel as part of an en bloc deal for a reported US$11.5M.
In third position lies George Procopiou Dynacom Tankers, with 46 large tankers. There is also a Suezmax tanker on the cusp of delivery from New Times Shipbuilding.
The George Economou group interest TMS Tankers holds fourth position, with 43 large tankers. Many of these entered the fleet as newbuildings in 2010 and /5 or were acquired via Dryships in 2015. The average age of the tanker portion of the fleet is nine years old and there are no tankers associated with Dynacom on the orderbook.
Fifth largest beneficial owner is the New York Stock Exchange-listed Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) with just over 6.0M dwt under beneficial ownership, with an average age of nine years old. There are eight tankers on the TEN orderbook, comprising two Suezmax tankers and six Aframax tankers. The two Suezmax tankers are on order at Samsung with delivery scheduled for 2025. All six Aframax-sized tankers are due in 2023 from DH Shipbuilding (formerly Daehan Shipbuilding Group).
“If I gave you US$100M in which sector would you invest it?”
During the Greek shipping at the forefront of global trade forum at the Capital Link’s 8th Maritime Leaders Summit in Greece during Posidonia 2022, an enlightening exchange took place that gave an insight into the mindset of some Greek tanker owners.
The panel moderator, EY (formerly accountancy firm Ernest Young) CESA Capital Markets leader and CESA IPO leader Sofia Kalomenidas asked: “If I gave you US$100M in which sector would you make an investment?”
TEN CEO Dr Nikolas P. Tsakos replied: “First of all, US$100M buys very little these days in the tanker environment. With the inflation these days, it buys about two-thirds of a VLCC.”
His choice was not to invest in the tanker sector, but to invest in a dual-fuel Newcastlemax or Capesize dry bulk carriers.
TMS Group founder George Economou replied that he bought his first ship with far less, and in today’s financial environment a new company would not receive very much by way of financing. His approach would be to protect the downside by looking at projected cashflow for the next three years. “I am pretty much convinced the dry bulk market is going to be good for the next three years,” he said.
“I was told at university that the best investment was a seven-year-old Japanese ship,” he said. “I think that is still a good investment, but I would buy older and bigger – maybe Capesize – which is what we (TMS Group) have done.”
On investing in the tanker market, he was more circumspect. It is a question of appetite for risk and he felt the tanker sector was too uncomfortable.
George Procopiou, founder of Dynacom Tankers Management, addressed the question saying that second-hand was preferable due to the established technology. He was not keen on talk of hydrogen and batteries. “I will wait for the [new] technology to settle down and not to be the guinea pig,” he said.
