Shipowner and businessman Pratap Shirke made his first shipping investment in the 1980s against the candid advice of a close family member.
“Don’t buy ships,” he can remember his father-in-law telling him when he was running the family construction business in Dubai at the time.
Shirke ignored the advice and bought a 6,000-dwt single-decker cargoship to transport materials.
“He was right, I lost my shirt on that ship,” he recalls with a smile.
