ZODIAC Maritime, Britain’s largest shipmanager by a wide margin, is getting prepared for its 50th year of operations in 2026 during a major newbuilding programme that has seen 17 new ships delivered since the beginning of the year.
Tasked with leading the integration of this new tonnage into London-headquartered Zodiac Maritime’s existing fleet of 170 vessels in the containership, dry cargo, liquified petroleum gas, tanker and vehicle carrier sectors is chief operating officer Tanuj Luthra.
He joined Zodiac Maritime in early 2024 following a 25-year career in seagoing and senior leadership roles at container shipping giant Maersk.
Having spent more than two decades at stock-exchange listed Maersk, Luthra noted that one of the big differences at Zodiac Maritime was the family atmosphere that prevailed throughout the privately owned business.
“What really surprised me was the longevity of service, especially among seafaring staff at Zodiac Maritime. This was one of the positive surprises for me,” Luthra told Lloyd’s List.
At company seafarer seminars, since early 2024 Luthra and other senior leaders handed out some 200 long-service awards, including 80 for officers that had completed 20 years of service with Zodiac Maritime.
Tags: Containers Dry Bulk Tankers and Gas
Zodiac Maritime expands fleet amid growing global complexities
Guided by a strong family ethos, the UK’s largest shipmanager is quietly navigating industry challenges with resilience and strategic foresight
Senior leadership team bolstered by highly regarded industry veterans from outside the company
Business is committed to its British roots and remains largest trainer of UK cadets
Zodiac Maritime has made considerable investments in its vessel fleet with well-timed orders for newbuildings, secondhand tonnage and vessel efficiency upgrades
FREE TO READ PCTC_Jisu Glory Source: Zodiac Maritime Jisu Glory, the last in a series of 10 vehicle carriers, was delivered to Zodiac Maritime in September.
ZODIAC Maritime, Britain’s largest shipmanager by a wide margin, is getting prepared for its 50th year of operations in 2026 during a major newbuilding programme that has seen 17 new ships delivered since the beginning of the year.
Tasked with leading the integration of this new tonnage into London-headquartered Zodiac Maritime’s existing fleet of 170 vessels in the containership, dry cargo, liquified petroleum gas, tanker and vehicle carrier sectors is chief operating officer Tanuj Luthra.
He joined Zodiac Maritime in early 2024 following a 25-year career in seagoing and senior leadership roles at container shipping giant Maersk.
Having spent more than two decades at stock-exchange listed Maersk, Luthra noted that one of the big differences at Zodiac Maritime was the family atmosphere that prevailed throughout the privately owned business.
“What really surprised me was the longevity of service, especially among seafaring staff at Zodiac Maritime. This was one of the positive surprises for me,” Luthra told Lloyd’s List.
At company seafarer seminars, since early 2024 Luthra and other senior leaders handed out some 200 long-service awards, including 80 for officers that had completed 20 years of service with Zodiac Maritime.
“One of the ingredients of the secret sauce of this company is the family ethos. In an era of seafarer shortages this can really set us apart from other companies in attracting new talent,” Luthra said.
“An example of this is our scholarship programme, which awards four grants a year to support higher education of employees’ and seafarers’ children.”
Sammy Ofer KBE founded Zodiac Maritime in London in 1976. The company name was inspired by the celestial navigation that had guided mariners for centuries. Since then, guided by Ofer and his eldest son Eyal, who is now chairman, Zodiac Maritime has grown into one of the world’s top 20 largest shipmanagers, enjoying consistent growth over the decades.
Now under third-generation leadership, with Eyal’s son Daniel Ofer as chief executive since 2011, Zodiac Maritime is undergoing expansion following major orders for new tonnage for most of the vessel sectors in which the company operates.
The fleet is remarkable for its diversity and has an average age of only nine years, although this is expected to fall as more newbuildings come on stream and older tonnage is sold.
In vessel number terms, some 33% of the fleet is provided by containerships, with most vessels operating on long-term charters to leading container line operators including Maersk, MSC and Ocean Network Express.
The tanker sector makes up 30% of the fleet and includes crude oil tankers, product tankers, stainless steel chemical tankers and LPG carriers.
The dry cargo sector, with a strong focus on the “eco” capesize segment, provides 24% of the Zodiac Maritime fleet, while the remaining 13% comprises vehicle carriers. Most of the latter are under long-term charter to either major vehicle carrier operators or the in-house logistics divisions of car manufacturers.
“Operating in several vessel sectors, in complex markets, gives us a competitive advantage. This variety of sectors requires that we really understand the demands of each segment,” said Luthra.
“The diverse fleet is our strength. We could just do containerships, but Zodiac Maritime thrives on complexity. Few other shipmanagers can do this effectively.”
Luthra said that the low profile of Zodiac Maritime meant an aura of mystique has prevailed around the company. Zodiac Maritime has traditionally not sought the limelight. However, it remains transparent.
It was one of, if not the first, privately held maritime companies to receive an external verification of its Environmental and Health and Safety Report, this year celebrating its 15th anniversary.
“We’re probably the biggest and most successful shipmanager that few have heard about.”
Nevertheless, the company is well known to the world’s most demanding charterers, as Zodiac Maritime has built up long-term relationships with numerous high-profile cargo managers over the past five decades.
Zodiac Maritime’s clients in dry cargo include BHP, Cargill and Rio Tinto which have extremely high expectations, noted Luthra. In the tanker segment BP Shipping, Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil are within the company’s list of clients. “It’s not by chance that these are the partners we work with,” said Luthra.
“As our customers’ needs evolve rapidly, we pride ourselves on staying one step ahead.”
More recently, the company was selected as a tonnage provider by Chinese car manufacturers BYD, Geely Automotive and SAIC as part of their push to build export markets in Europe.
Zodiac Maritime recently took delivery of Jisu Glory (IMO: 9981582), which is the last of a tranche of 10 liquified natural gas dual-fuel pure car and truck carriers.
The 7,000 ceu vessels were ordered from Chinese shipbuilder Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore between 2021 and 2023 as part of a strategy to partner China’s expansion into automotive logistics.
The company has taken delivery of 70 newbuildings since 2018, across all of Zodiac Maritime’s vessel segments. It has 20 more newbuildings to come on stream by the end of 2027.
Despite Zodiac Maritime’s vast newbuilding investments, Luthra said that secondhand purchases will continue to be considered when opportunity arises. “We are always looking for opportunities,” noted Luthra.
But he believes that current newbuilding prices are probably too high to consider for new speculative vessel orders.
“Shipbuilding pricing needs to come down, especially in some segments where the orderbook looks quite extensive, but we will only order new ships when there is a need to do so,” said Luthra.
He believes future newbuilding orders by the company will be dependent on the outcome of significant events, in particular the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework and the outcome of the US Trade Representative port levies in October.
In addition to newbuildings and selected secondhand purchases, Zodiac Maritime has undertaken big investments in retrofits.
As well as bulbous bow replacements to enhance efficiencies of existing ships now operating at reduced service speeds, the company has fitted high-efficiency propellers, rudder bulbs and advanced hull coatings, and has undertaken electronics upgrades on bridge systems on older vessels. Furthermore, lighting on board ships has been replaced with more efficient LED systems.
Shiprepair yards in China and Türkiye were selected to undertake most of the upgrading works, depending on the trading pattern of the vessel.
“All of the retrofits we have undertaken are paying back and have provided marked performance improvements,” said Luthra.
Also boosting Zodiac Maritime’s leadership team is Katy Ware MBE, the former UK permanent representative at the IMO and previously holder of senior positions at the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency. She was appointed as Zodiac Maritime’s new head of regulatory affairs in January.
Highly regarded in the maritime industry for her track record in advancing regulations and crew welfare, Ware’s appointment appears an astute move in an era of both increasing regulatory complexity and trade disruptions.
Among her many duties, in her role at Zodiac Maritime she is closely monitoring developments around IMO net zero and USTR port levies.
“Final plans by the USTR are still awaiting, but we are keeping a close eye on it. Discussions around its scope are ongoing but the Chinese shipbuilding elements will have limited effect on Zodiac Maritime since we build ships across China, Japan and South Korea; we should be in a good place,” said Ware.
“For the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework it’s too soon to make a call due to political wranglings. But the framework needs to be robust and equitable — how do we support the IMO to make a system that’s fair and equitable for all? A lot of work is still to be done on that front.”
But she admitted that shipmanagers have limited influence on both matters.
“We understand that policy makers will have to make decisions, but they need to take a step back and listen before implementing policies.
Moving forward we’ll focus on how we can support those policy makers,” said Ware.
Perhaps due to ongoing criticism from the US about net zero, Ware noted that some shipmanagers have started to ease off on talking about future fuels and refocused on energy efficiency.
“Energy efficiency is embedded in Zodiac Maritime and was never off the table here,” said Ware.
With Zodiac Maritime being committed to its UK roots, the company has maintained support for the UK flag under the tonnage tax regime. Furthermore, it maintains a commitment to training the most British cadets.
Despite an exodus by several shipowners from the UK flag following Brexit, Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows that Zodiac Maritime has 30 ships of a combined 4.1m dwt registered in London, making it the largest fleet under the British register by far.
Ware said that the company has an annual intake of 45 UK cadets and had worked hard to reduce the high average dropout rate of UK cadets in general, of 30%.
“We improved our cadet retention rate by developing our own inhouse training that supports cadets, and now our dropout rate of UK cadets is only 10%,” said Ware. She added that the company, unlike some UK flag operators, has a policy of aiming to provide development roles for UK cadets after graduation, either on board its vessels or in shore-based employment.
Zodiac Maritime is working with UK maritime colleges and government to modernise seafarer training programmes to make them more relevant to the latest generation of cadets.
Ware noted that two of its former cadets, who trained on Zodiac Maritime’s vehicle carrier and boxship fleet, are now working in the London headquarters as the respective fleet managers of those sectors.
“We ensure we have this seagoing operational expertise in the office; no one ship is the same,” said Ware.
In a sector defined by evolving regulations and geopolitical instability, Zodiac Maritime’s steady hand should ensure it will maintain its position as Britain’s leading shipmanager.
As Ware noted: “In shipping, uncertainty has become the way of life.”
