Greece News

Opinion: Government Intervention Needed to Keep Shipping, Energy Businesses Moving

In times of crisis sometimes the easiest response is to be heads-down. One of the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic that history will look back on as key to the resilience of people and commerce, has been cooperation. As a specialist travel management company (TMC), it is a privilege for ATPI Marine & Energy to be part of unprecedented collaboration in the shipping and energy industries.Right now, these sectors are joining forces in ways never seen before to ensure that ships can sail, rigs can operate and people can be relieved and get home safely.

Nautilus Labs, Oceanking Announce Partnership

Nautilus Labs and Oceanking announced a partnership to jointly expand access to Nautilus in the Greek and Cypriot market to support ship owners and operators. Nautilus serves the global maritime industry by building decision support software that surfaces smart alerts and actionable insights that maximize voyage profitability and vessel yield. Oceanking is based in Greece and provides integrated, technical services and solutions. It will represent Nautilus in the Greek market and connect ship owners/operators and the technology firm.

LNG Carrier Delivered to Nakilat

Qatari shipping company Nakilat took delivery of a newbuild liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Global Energy. Built by South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), the vessel will be managed in-house by Nakilat and is the first of four LNG carrier newbuilds to be delivered to Global Shipping Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Nakilat (60%) and Greece-based Maran Ventures Inc. (40%). The delivery of all four newbuilds by end-2021 will bring Nakilat’s fleet to 74 LNG carriers…

Greece to Sell Majority Stakes in Four Ports

Greece plans to sell majority stakes in four ports as part of a privatization plan agreed with its lenders after the country exited the bailouts in 2018, a document of its privatization agency (HRADF) showed on Tuesday.HRADF will sell majority stakes in the share capital of Alexandroupolis, Igoumenitsa, Heraklion and Volos ports, the agency said in an invitation to hire financial advisers for the sales released on this website.China's COSCO has bought a 51% stake in Piraeus Port, the country's biggest, in 2016.

USCG Advises on Minimizing Novel Coronavirus at Sea

The Coast Guard Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy has published an update March 16, 2020 to MSIB: Novel Coronavirus – Update (Change 2)An outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) may affect mariners and maritime commerce. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated their Interim Guidance for Ships on Managing Suspected Coronavirus Disease 2019 (see https://go.usa.gov/xdfyG) and Cruise Ship Travel (see https://go.usa.gov/xdfVP).Illness…

Posidonia Rescheduled to October 2020

This morning it was announced that the Posidonia 2020 exhibition, scheduled from June 1-5, 2020 in Athens, Greece, has been rescheduled to October 26-30, 2020.

Greece to Quarantine all Arrivals from Abroad

Greece announced on Monday it will shut all shops apart from supermarkets, pharmacies, banks, petrol stations and food delivery services, and put anyone arriving from abroad into quarantine for two weeks, to fight the coronavirus.Greece had already cancelled mass gatherings and closed bars, restaurants, playgrounds and gyms. So far the country has reported 331 confirmed cases of infections and four fatalities. Health authorities expect the number of infections to rise.The 14 day quarantine would apply to anyone entering the country…

C-Job Naval Architect Opens Athens Office

C-Job Naval Architects is set to open an office this spring in Athens, Greece. C-Job veteran Nikos Papapanagiotou will take on the role of General Manager and will lead the new office in Athens. He said, "C-Job has seen significant growth over the past few years in both the industry as well as in the demand for our services. To enable us to continue to meet this demand now and in the future, we are opening an office in Athens."C-Jobs has a strong track-record in several industries including ferries, dredging, offshore (wind) and mega yachts.

Piraeus Port Taps TEKAL for Port Expansion

PPA S.A. has announced that the construction company TEKAL S.A. was awarded as the construction contractor of the Cruise Terminal Expansion project of Piraeus Port Authority, after the financial bid of $113 million plus VAT, initially budgeted $180 million. The new cruise pier is one of the mandatory investments of the master plan of COSCO SHIPPING for the PPA. The project is also funded by the Regional Operational Program for Attica 2014-2020. The expansion will be located next to the existing cruise facilities…

EIB Fund Greek LNG Bunkering Vessel Construction

European Investment Bank (EIB) and Public Gas Corporation of Greece (DEPA) have signed an agreement to finance with up to 20 million euros the construction of a new liquid natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel for maritime use in Greece which will be based in Piraeus. EIB said that the first vessel of its kind in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean will have a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters and will be supplied with LNG at Revithoussa LNG terminal.The bunker tanker will refuel its LNG at Revithoussa LNG terminal and will carry out bunkering both in Piraeus and other Greek ports…

Performance Shipping Adds P. Fos to Fleet

Performance Shipping, a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of vessels, announced that, through a separate wholly-owned subsidiary, it took delivery of the M/T P. Fos (formerly M/T Virgo Sun).The vessel is a 2007-built Aframax tanker vessel of 115,577 dwt that the Company entered into an agreement to purchase in November 2019.Two days ago, the Greece-based company signed a Memorandum of Agreement to sell to an unaffiliated third party the 2008-built Post-Panamax container vessel M/V Rotterdam…

Performance Shipping Sells M/V Rotterdam

Greece-based Performance Shipping  announced it has signed a Memorandum of Agreement to sell to an unaffiliated third party the 2008-built Post-Panamax container vessel M/V Rotterdam, for a sale price of $18.5M before commissions.The global shipping company specializing in the ownership of vessels said in a press release, the scheduled delivery to the buyer latest by May 15, 2020.Upon completion of the aforementioned sale, Performance Shipping Inc.’s fleet will consist of one…

GMT Invests in Argo Travel Group

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…

IRClass Foreign Flag Fleet Reg. Up 16%

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…

Britannia P&I sets up Shop in NY

Britannia P&I has established a new exclusive correspondent, B Americas P&I, to be based in New York.B Americas P&I will be headed by Michael Unger, a maritime lawyer with extensive litigation and arbitration experience.B Americas will enhance the Club’s ability to provide a round-the-clock claims service to all its Members, while also focusing on the needs of Britannia’s North American Members.This development follows other recent steps taken by the Club, including the opening of new offices in Denmark and Greece and the strengthening of its teams in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

TOP Ships Acquires 2 Scrubber Fitted Tankers

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…

Pirates Release Kidnapped Tanker Crew off Togo

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 Wins Ausca, Koch Charters

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…

Greece's National Bank Dumps Impaired Shipping Loans

National Bank (NBG) has signed deals to sell a 262 million euro ($288.78 million) portfolio of shipping loans to investment funds as part of its effort to reduce its load of soured credit, Greece's second-largest lender said on Wednesday.The bank said it sold the loans for about 50% of their outstanding balance as of end June 2019.

TEN Orders LNG Carrier at HHI

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…

GasLog Relocates People and Office

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…

Performance Shipping Adds Aframax Tanker

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…

NMAC Acquires 5 Product Tankers

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…

Performance Shipping Buys a Tanker

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 Sells Two Supramax Vessels

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…

Cosco Acquires Stake in Greek Intermodal Firm

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…