Event News Posidonia 2014: Greek Shipowners Engage In Funding And Liquidity Debate by GTP editing team 3 June 2014 written by GTP editing team 3 June 2014 0 comments Share 0FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail 18 Photo © Posidonia Exhibitions The impact of private equity funds and US capital markets’ financing of the Greek newbuildings program was debated in Athens, Greece, at the Tradewinds Shipowners Forum that took place during the Posidonia shipping event on 3 June. A panel of major shipowners discussed the funding sources of the Greek newbuilding program order book, which last year alone committed upwards of $13bn for 275 vessels of more than 24.5m dw and increasing the dwt total on order for Greeks by 364 percent. The panelists also debated the pros and cons of going public or staying private. Photo © Posidonia Exhibitions Arguing his case on behalf of the privately held shipping companies, the managing director of Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Limited, Αthanasios Martinos, said:”We feel the competition growing stronger as a result of access to liquidity from the markets or PE funds, but on the other hand we welcome investment activity because it is beneficial to the overall industry and the economy at large as this gives business to ship yards, creates innovation, reduces transportation cost to the benefit of consumers, fuels vertical sectors such as consultants and contributes to cleaner seas.” “It is also true that the listed space offers you opportunities to manage generational change,” he added. According to Mr. Martinos, there is an apparent trend for Greek shipping going public in the future. “The sector will be less private and more public which is better for everyone as the Greeks can offer the world shipping expertise and knowledge,” he said. Regarding the potential tonnage oversupply that growth funding may create, Mr. Martinos said that investors could be directed to the second hand market to avoid oversupply of tonnage. On his part, Evangelos Marinakis, director and chairman of Capital Product Partners, said that private equity investments have to be dealt with professionally and that the companies who operate this tonnage should not be doing so for speculation purposes but should adopt a more measured and realistic approach to their returns. The panel included George Economou, president and CEO of Dryships Inc; Angeliki Frangou, CEO and president of Navios Maritime Holding; Emanuele Lauro, chairman and CEO of Scorpio Bulkers; and Nikolas Tsakos, president and CEO of Tsakos Energy Navigation. The Posidonia shipping exhibition is taking place at the Athens Metropolitan Expo and will run until 6 June. Follow GTP Headlines on Google News to keep up to date with all the latest on tourism and travel in Greece. Share 0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail GTP editing team This is the team byline for GTP. The copyrights for these articles are owned by GTP. They may not be redistributed without the permission of the owner. previous post Free WiFi Available At Some Metro, Train Stations In Athens next post Epirus, Greece, Announces Action Plan To Extend Tourism Season You may also like Athens International Airport Expands its Artistic Landscape with ANADYSSIS II 3 February 2025 CONVIN Wins Silver at Event Awards 2025 for Community Engagement & Awareness 31 January 2025 Parthenon Sculptures: Stephen Fry Calls for their Return to Greece 30 January 2025 Greek Government Focuses on Investments, Exports to Drive Economic Growth 29 January 2025 GNTO: Austrian Bookings Surge for Ionian Islands in 2025 29 January 2025 US Market ‘Gets a Taste’ of Ionian Islands’ Culinary Offerings 29 January 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel Reply Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ