Greece News

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

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…

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…

Crystal Yacht Cruises announced the 55-cruise roster of 2022 and early 2023 itineraries for Crystal Esprit.A number of new options punctuate the collection of regionally focused voyages, with dozens of seven- and eight-night options catering to busy travel schedules or easily combined into longer adventures, said a company press release.In addition to exploration of hubs of profound history, featured destinations also capitalize on the 62-guest Crystal Esprit’s adventurous spirit…

Greece's Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) announced that the "PIRAEUS I" floating dock is available again for ship repair works."PIRAEUS I floating dock has been delivered for use and is operating again after scheduled maintenance works," said an announcement from PPA.PIRAEUS I is 202 m. long, with inner width 31 meters, has lifting capacity of 15,000 tons and can serve ships with capacity of 40,000 tons.During the first nine months of 2019, the ship repair activity at the port of Piraeus is showing an increase…

A delegation of the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) led by Panama’s Minister of Maritime Affairs and Administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority Noriel Arauz, visited Greece where it was received by the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Island Policy Ioannis Plakiotakis.The ministers reviewed the excellent relations between the two countries and discussed issues related to maritime affairs and shipping.Minister Noriel Arauz, who was accompanied by Panama’s new Ambassador to Athens Ms Julie Limberopoulos and his technical team…

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment has been declared the winning bidder in a tender covering three offshore high-speed ambulance boats that will support emergency services in the Aegean Sea.The international tender was concluded after a cooperation between the Hellenic Coast Guard and the Greek Emergency Response Organization (E.K.A.B), in an initiative supported and financed by the European Union under the INTERREG V-A Cooperation Program 2014-2020.All three ambulance boats are scheduled for delivery during the summer of 2020…

The European Investment Bank (EIB) on Monday formally agreed to provide 140 million euros (USD $154.5 million) to support expansion and upgrading of Piraeus Port, Greece's main port.The largest ever loan for port investment in the country by Europe’s long-term lending institution, will support the implementation of part of investments at the Port of Piraeus in a total investment plan of more than EUR 600 million. The 20-year loan was signed in Athens in the presence of Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis…

Brazilian investigators said on Friday a Greek-flagged ship carrying Venezuelan crude was the source of oil tarring thousands of kilometers of coastline over the past two months.While prosecutors and police did not name the vessel, a prosecutors' document obtained by Reuters identified the ship as the Bouboulina, owned by Greece's Delta Tankers Ltd. Police said the tanker appears to have spilled the crude about 700 km (420 miles) off Brazil's coast between July 28-29, bound for…

Greece has rescued a 47-year old woman floating in a rubber dinghy in the Aegean Sea for nearly two days, coastguard officials said on Tuesday.The woman, holidaying on a sailboat near the Greek island of Folegandros, boarded an inflatable boat around midday on Nov. 1 to get supplies. A day later, Greek authorities were alerted that she was missing.They found her in the boat on Sunday morning some 40 nautical miles southwest of Folegandros, close to the island of Crete. Seven coastguard vessels, three private boats, a plane, and a helicopter were involved in the search operation."I was blown away, blown away in my dinghy," she said as she disembarked a coastguard vessel at the port of Iraklion…

BIMCO’s Chief Shipping Analyst, Peter Sand, will be speaking and providing the audience with unique insights on the container market at the European Shipping Seminar on November 27, 2019 in Athens, Greece.The European Shipping Seminar, hosted by S&P Global Platts, will discuss the various topics relating to the commercial shipping markets and take a deep dive into how the shipping industry will navigate its way through the uncertain environment of the IMO 2020 Sulphur Cap.Container shipping outlookBIMCO has persistently stressed that trade wars and protectionism are negative for shipping.

Greece-based shipping company Okeanis Eco Tankers (OET) said it  has secured funding to finance the pre-delivery of two new ECO scrubber-fitted Suezmax tankers.The Greek tanker owner and operator said that it has secured commitment to a USD 45.9 million secured loan facility from Alpha Bank A.E. to finance 88.95% of the total pre-delivery yard installments for the vessel pair.The two ECO design, scrubber-fitted 158,000 DWT Suezmax tankers are under construction at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and set for delivery in August 2020.The loan facility is available immediately…