Greece News

Global Marine Travel, a Florida-based travel management company to the maritime industry, has partnered with the Greek travel firm Argo Travel Group to enhance its travel offering, particularly in terms of service delivery and driving growth in the Greek and international markets."In Argo, Global Marine Travel, gains a marine partner with an experienced team and a strong reputation for service delivery, that will drive the growth of the business in Greece and other international locations…

The Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) said that the classed fleet registered approx. 3% growth in the past year.The ship classification society said that its foreign flag fleet continued to grow at a robust pace with 16% more vessels added during 2019 demonstrating strong global acceptance of IRClass services.IRClass received several flag authorizations in 2019 including key flags like Cyprus and Denmark and is now recognized by 45 flag states worldwide. It opened a new office in the Netherlands to add to its other European offices in the UK…

UK-based international oil and gas exploration and production company Energean Oil & Gas and the Public Gas Corporation of Greece (DEPA) have agreed to cooperate to further support the EastMed Pipeline Project.The have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for the potential sale and purchase of 2 BCM natural gas per annum from Energean’s gas fields offshore Israel, where Energean is investing $1.7 billion for the development of the Karish & Tanin fields through the FPSO “Energean Power”.DEPA…

Eight people were abducted and one person injured during an armed raid overnight on a Greek-registered tanker anchored off Cameroon, Greek authorities said on Tuesday.Greece's shipping ministry said the Happy Lady tanker was two nautical miles off the port of Limboh in Cameroon when it was stormed by individuals who were armed.Five Greeks, two people from the Philippines and a Ukrainian were kidnapped and a Greek national injured, the ministry said in a statement.The tanker has a crew of 28.(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Niels Aalund was elected President of the International Propeller Club at their 93rd International Convention and Conference. The prominent maritime industry stakeholder will serve a two-year term, commencing from October 17th. Aalund, a well-known maritime subject matter expert and executive, also serves as an Officer and as Senior Vice President of the West Gulf Maritime Association (WGMA). WGMA communicates and coordinates with various governmental entities throughout the West Gulf…

A cargo ship drifted onto a beach in southern Israel on Thursday after heavy winds and stormy weather forced the vessel away from its anchor point near the port of Ashdod.The 90 meter-long Zelek Star was carrying cement and other goods from Greece to Israel when it was swept away and approached Oranim Beach, officials said. The beach's sandy Mediterranean shoreline is popular with residents and tourists.Photos showed locals walking along the beach with the 14 meter-high vessel towering over them in the background…

TOP Ships has entered into an agreement with a major Chinese financier in relation to financing of up to $60.2 million for its recently acquired vessels.The Greece-based shipping company said that the two newbuilding ultra-high specification scrubber-fitted 50,000 dwt Medium Range (MR) product/chemical tankers currently under construction at Hyundai Mipo Co., Ltd. in South Korea.The delivery is due in February 2020, said the international owner and operator of modern, fuel-efficient…

Greece-based international ship-owning company TOP Ships has acquired two ultra-high specification scrubber-fitted 50,000 dwt Medium Range (MR) product/chemical tankers under construction at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., Ltd. in South Korea.The tanker owner stated in a press release that  it has acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Santa Catalina Inc. and Santa Monica Inc., which are Marshall Islands companies that have originally entered into new building contracts for the two tankers.The MR tankers are scheduled for delivery during February 2020…

A Turkish drone meant to help seek hydrocarbons in the eastern Mediterranean landed at an airport on the divided island of Cyprus on Monday, a Turkish official said, in a move that could further stoke tensions between Turkey and Greece.The breakaway Turkish Cypriot cabinet on Friday designated the Gecitkale airport on the island as a base for both unarmed and armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at the request of the Turkish government, the Demiroren news agency (DHA) said.Cyprus, an EU member, was divided in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup.

Pirates have released three crew taken hostage from a Greek oil tanker off the coast of the West African country of Togo in November, the vessel's manager said on Friday.A fourth hostage, a Filipino, died from illness during captivity, European Products Carriers Ltd added.It did not give details of the release.The tanker, Elka Aristotle, was attacked on Nov. 4 about 18 km (11 miles) from the port of Lome.

Diana Shipping  announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has entered into a time charter contract with Ausca Shipping Limited, Hong Kong, for one of its Kamsarmax dry bulk vessels, the m/v Myrsini.According to the global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, the gross charter rate is US$11,500 per day, minus a 5% commission paid to third parties, for a period of minimum 13 months to about 15 months. The charter is expected to commence on December 4…

Chinese shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) said that its worldwide equipment service subsidiary CSSC Marine Service Co (CMS) is using its expanded network of service stations to deliver a retrofit solution to engine starting problems that may occur with less viscous low-sulfur fuels (LSF).Some two-stroke engines using common-rail injection report problems reaching and maintaining high enough fuel rail pressure due to wear of fuel pumps, starting…

Libya's internationally recognized government and Turkey have signed an agreement on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea that could complicate Ankara's disputes over energy exploration with other countries.Turkey, which announced the accord and a deal on expanded security and military cooperation on Thursday, gave no details of their memorandum of understanding and did not specify where Turkish and Libyan waters meet.Greece dismissed the announcement as geographically…

Greece-based crude, product and LNG tanker operator Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) ordered has one-option-one 174,000cbm LNG carrier from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in South Korea with expected delivery, the first, in the second half of 2021 and the second, in the first half of 2022.The provider of international seaborne crude oil and petroleum product transportation services said that with this order, if the option is exercised, its LNG proforma fleet increases to four vessels…

Monaco-based international owner, operator and manager of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers GasLog has announced plans to relocate more of its people and most of the senior management to the Piraeus, Greece office, home of its operational platform.As a result, GasLog will close the Monaco office, whilst the London office will focus primarily on chartering activities and company secretarial duties. The offices in Singapore, Korea and the US will be unaffected by the changes.GasLog CEO…

The global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of vessels, Performance Shipping has announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it has taken delivery of the m/t Briolette (formerly Maersk Jamnagar).The containerships and tanker vessels said in a press releases that it had entered into an agreement to purchase the 2011-built Aframax tanker vessel of 104,588 dwt in June 2019. Including the newly delivered m/t Briolette, Performance…

Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation (NMAC), a Greece owner and operator of tanker vessels, announced the agreement to acquire five product tankers in liquidation of Navios Europe I Inc.On November 22, 2019, an agreement was reached to liquidate Navios Europe I. As of September 30, 2019, Navios Acquisition had a receivable of $32.3 million from Navios Europe I. This receivable along with debt financing will be used to finance the Acquisition. The agreement is subject to definitive…

Euroseas, a Greece shipping company that was founded about a century ago, said that it has took delivery of four container carrier vessels of intermediate size of 4,253 teu from Synergy Holdings Limited for approximately $40 million.All vessels are built in South Korea, three in 2009 and the other in 2008, the company said.The acquisition of the four vessels was financed by bank debt of $32 million, existing funds of Euroseas and a private placement of $6 million at a share price…

Greece-based global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of vessels has agreed to acquire a 2007-built aframax tanker for US$26.0 million.The company specializing in the ownership of containerships and tanker vessels said that it will acquire the entity from its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Symeon Palios, for an aggregate purchase price of US$11.0 million, which will be paid in common shares of the company at a per share price of US$0.9027.

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a global shipping company focusing on the transportation of dry bulk cargoes, announced that it has agreed to sell the Star Cosmo, a 2005 built Supramax vessel and the Star Epsilon, a 2001 built Supramax vessel."We expect to deliver both vessels to their new owners by the end of this month (November)," the Greece-based shipping company said in a statement.The proceeds from these sales, after prepayment of the debt related to the two vessels, are expected…

Greece-based provider of seaborne transportation for containerized cargoes Euroseas  announced that it has entered into agreements to acquire four 4,253 teu containerships built in South Korea, three in 2009 and one in 2008.The owner and operator of container carrier vessels said in a press release that the vessels are being acquired from companies controlled by Synergy Holdings Limited for a total consideration of approximately $40 million.The acquisition will be financed by bank debt…

OceanRail Logistics, part of the Cosco Shipping Group, acquired 60% of the Greek railway company Piraeus Europe Asia Rail Logistics (PEARL) as part of its plan to develop its intermodal transport services network.OceanRail specializes in sea-rail intermodal transport with the Piraeus Port as the hub and related logistics business, while PEARL is a Greece-based company engaged in railway operations.The China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line, which starts from the Piraeus Port in Greece and expands to the hinterland of Central and Eastern Europe…

Greece-based shipping company Arista Shipping has signed an ocean data agreement with the global provider of classification and technical advisory services ABS to drive smart shipping operations.The global provider of shipping transportation services and specializes in managing the worldwide transportation of dry bulk cargoes will processed data from the ABS Metocean Hindcast Data application to guide operational decision making for its fleet and managed vessels.Advanced ABS data processing is applied to over a decade of Metocean Hindcast model data from the U.S.