Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee News

Figures released by the Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee (GSCC) show that Liberia has further strengthened its position as the undisputed leading open registry of choice for Greek shipowners and operators. The GSCC statistics show that, in the year to end-March 2015, the number of Greek-controlled ships in the Liberian Registry increased by a net total of 61 vessels, more than any other registry in the world. In the process, the Liberian Registry moved closer to the Greek flag, which recorded a net total of 20 new registrations in the 12-month period.

Ship Registries are an excellent bellwether of industry health and trends, and when Maritime Reporter & Engineering News sought answers to some topical questions, it went to two of the top organizations in the world, speicifically Theo Xenakoudis, Worldwide Business Operations Officer, International Registries, Inc. & Christian Mollitor, Vice-President, Liberian Registry/LISCR, LLC. Give a brief description of the market you serve. TX Greek shipowners have historically been very supportive of the RMI flag. Today Greek shipowners represent nearly 25 million gross tons of the RMI fleet.

The Liberian Registry says the entry of private equity funding into the ship finance market is helping to sustain its continued growth. Scott Bergeron, CEO of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry (LISCR), the U.S.-based manager of the Liberian registry, said, “Owners are ordering ships again, and there is a great deal of private equity funding entering the market, in the U.S. and elsewhere, which is filling the shortfall created by a reduction in traditional bank finance for shipping.

The Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee (GSCC) has confirmed that Liberia is the leading independent ship register of choice for Greek-controlled shipping companies, second only to the Greek flag itself. Figures just released by the GSCC show that, in the year ended March 31, 2012, Liberia experienced a net increase of 38 Greek-controlled ships, aggregating 4.63m dwt – comfortably more than twice the number of vessels secured by any other ship registry. In the same twelve-month period, Panama and Cyprus, respectively, lost 33 and 25 Greek-controlled ships. In deadweight terms, seventeen per cent of Greek-controlled ships are now registered with Liberia, compared to 22 per cent flying the Greek flag.

Spyros M. Polemis, an international business leader who has spent more than 45 years in the shipping industry, has been elected to serve on the Stevens Institute of Technology Board of Trustees. Mr. Polemis was named to the board during its spring meeting, May 20-21, 2009. Polemis is a Class of 1961 graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology, where he served as president of Pi Lambda Phi and belonged to the Interfraternity Council and the Yacht Club. Polemis' family has roots in shipping that date back several centuries. He is chairman and managing director of Seacrest Shipping Co.

On September 25, 2007, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg will hear oral arguments in the case brought by INTERTANKO and the industry coalition to examine the validity of the European Union (EU) Ship Source Pollution Directive. Members will recall that the case brought against the U.K.'s Secretary of State for Transport had originated in the Administrative Court of the English High Court. Judgment was granted in favour of the industry coalition in July 2006. The High Court had directed that the case be transferred to the ECJ as that Court has the sole power to rule on the validity of a piece of EU legislation. The Directive, which seeks to criminalise accidental pollution, has proved to be controversial from both the legal and practical standpoints.

INTERTANKO’s Hellenic Forum last week elected its new Chairman and governing team. Emmanuel Vordonis of Thenamaris Ships Management will be the next Chairman, succeeding Ceres Hellenic’s Nicholas G. Fistes who held the position for three years, and is the Hellenic Forum’s third Chairman. Nick Fistes will remain as a Vice Chairman alongside Costis Kertsikoff of Eletson Corporation and Spyros Polemis of Seacrest Shipping. They will work together with the Steering Committee and the members of the Forum to stimulate constructive thinking and generate new ideas out of the hands-on international experience of the Greek shipping community.

Prominent Greek shipowner John Adamantios Hadjipateras, chairman of the London-based Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee for the past 18 years, died of heart failure at an Athens hospital Sept. 17 at the age of 73. Hadjipateras had been in Greece to attend the twice-yearly meeting between directors of the committee and the Union of Greek Shipowners. The meeting was to be held on Sept. 21 but has been cancelled. Hadjipateras managed Hadjipateras Maritime Ltd and Pateras Shipbrokers in London. He was also the Union of Greek Shipowners representative at the International Shipping Federation since 1958, serving as vice-chairman in 1978.