Greek shipowners debate future at TradeWinds Forum

A debate on the future of Greek shipping topped off a lively afternoon of wide ranging discussion at TradeWinds Shipowners Forum in Athens last Thursday.

Offering instant reaction to the fevered negotiations taking place in Brussels, four in five participants used the online delegate polling system to express their view that Greece’s international lenders should bite the bullet and reduce the country’s sovereign debt to make it viable.

High-profile participants to the debate seemed relatively relaxed, however, about the impact that the collapse of Greek debt talks might have on the global shipping industry.

“The direct impact on shipping companies should be very modest,” said Hamish Norton, president of Star Bulk Carriers. “The state of the (Greek) economy is not going to be really noticeable to the shareholders of the shipping companies,” he added.

But bigger concerns about the possible impact of the crisis on the role of Greece as a maritime centre emerged during the opening session moderated by Frank Dunne, Chairman of leading shipping law firm Watson Farley & Williams.

“I don’t see them (Greek shipowners) boarding a plane yet but I am sure they are concerned both at corporate and personal level, particularly in terms of taxation and the quality of life overall,” said Anthony Argyropoulos, the founder of Seaborne Capital Advisors.

“The biggest risk to the industry is the escape factor -- big shipowning's operating base leaving to different jurisdictions,” Argyropoulos added.

While bigger shipping companies based in Greece will feel very little impact, the deteriorating position of local banks will not help smaller Greek owners who traditionally do more business with them, said Jerry Kalogiratos, finance director at Capital Maritime & Trading Corp and CEO designate of New-York listed Capital Product Partners.

“Uncertainty shouldn’t be underestimated,” said Andreas Povlsen of Breakwater Capital. “If you don’t know how the regulatory environment will be and how you will be taxed, it’s a huge issue,” Povlsen added, saying Greek owners could move commercial and technical management of their fleet abroad.

Some say this is already happening: “A lot of companies are already opening offices around the world -- Cyprus, Singapore,” said George Papadopoulos from Safety Management Overseas from the audience.

“This is a very difficult situation, God help us,” he added, under applause from forum participants crowding the Onassis Cultural Centre.

Staged to mark shipping publication TradeWinds’ 25th anniversary, the Forum was followed by a reception at the Centre’s rooftop restaurant offering guests the chance to relax and see Athens Bureau Chief, Gillian Whitaker, cut a cake iced to look like the paper’s first front page.

Event director Jon Chaplin commented, ‘The support we receive in Athens is always tremendous and we look forward to the next TradeWinds Shipowners Forum in Hong Kong on October 15th.”

Principal Sponsors included Sinopacific Shipbuilding Corp, Nautisk, World Fuel Services, Pictet and Wirana Shipping Corporation. Sponsors included Lloyd’s Register, ABS, Vesselsvalue.com, Capital Product Partners, The Baltic Exchange, Hempel, The Amercian Club, The Marshall Islands, Lucion Marine, Atlas Maritime, Aspida, Lion Shipbrokers and XRTC.