Black swans have almost become the norm in an industry increasingly shaped by global events, unlike any time in recent memory. So, perhaps it is no surprise that 2024 was filled with jaw-dropping surprises.
As the year draws to a close, these are the stories that left us shocked:
1. A bridge collapses
It was gone in seconds.
On 26 March, the US woke to learn that the Francis Scott Key Bridge was destroyed when it was hit by the 9,962-teu container ship Dali (built 2015).
Grainy footage of the incident showed the bridge crumbling.
The vessel is owned by Grace Ocean, managed by Synergy Marine and chartered by container shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk.
The incident, which killed six people, will keep TradeWinds reporters busy for some time.
It remains the subject of at least two marine accident investigations and a major legal battle.
2. Houthis sink a ship
The Houthi militant group began menacing shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shortly after war broke out between Israel and Hamas in October 2023.
But it was not until February of this year that the Yemen-based group scored its first sinking.
The casualty was the 32,200-dwt Rubymar (built 1997), managed by Lebanon’s GMZ Ship Management.
Overall, since the first Houthi assault on a ship — the 19 November 2023 hijacking of the 5,100-ceu Galaxy Leader (built 2002) — there have been 111 incidents, according to data from the Joint Maritime Information Center.
Houthi attacks have killed four seafarers and injured two.
Although the incidents have died down in recent weeks, military officials expect the Houthis to resume their assault on merchant shipping.
3. The death of Angela Chao
None would disagree that, at 50 years old, Foremost Group chief executive Angela Chao still had so much more to give the maritime world.
But in February, she died in a car accident, nearly six years after she took the helm of the bulker-owning company founded by her father, James Chao.
“Angela Chao was a formidable executive and shipping industry leader, as well as a proud and loving daughter, sister, aunt, wife and mother,” the company said at the time.
It later emerged that she died when she accidentally drove her Tesla into a pond at a Texas ranch. Police said she was under the influence of alcohol at the time.
4. Shooting at European Navigation
Tragedy also struck European Navigation, a Karnessis family-controlled product tanker owner, when a lone gunman went on a shooting rampage in the company’s office.
Three people died, including managing director Antonios Vlassakis and Maria Karnessis, the sister of principal Spyros Karnessis.
The body of the gunman, a 76-year-old former employee of the family, was also found in the building. He is believed to have died by suicide.
5. The hit-and-run dark fleet tanker
That a dark fleet tanker would be involved in an incident that risked a major oil spill perhaps should not be considered a shock.
After all, experts had been warning of the risks posed by the growing fleet of vessels operating outside of the mainstream global safety and insurance structures.
But when the Sao Tome and Principe-flagged 300,000-dwt Ceres I (built 2001) was involved in a collision with Hafnia’s 74,200-dwt Hafnia Nile (built 2017) in the South China Sea, Malaysian authorities distributed startling photos of the two burning tankers.
And then they alleged that the Ceres I disappeared from the accident scene.
The VLCC has since been sanctioned by US officials for its role in carrying Iranian oil.
6. Greek shipowners’ other investments
When the profits from shipping are rolling in, what do you do with them?
For some Greek shipowners, the answer in 2024 was to invest that cash in things that are not ships.
For example, Latsco Shipping principal Marianna Latsis spent an unidentified but considerable amount of cash to become the second-biggest shareholder in Attiki Odos, a major Athens motorway.
Before that, there was George Procopiou’s decision to spend €500m ($518m) on Ellinikon — a sprawling real estate project on the Athens Riviera.
Also this year, ferry and tanker owner Marios Iliopoulos agreed to acquire AEK Athens football club.
And Evangelos Marinakis took a controlling stake in Portuguese football club Rio Ave.
OK, that’s no shock, as he already has Olympiacos Piraeus and Nottingham Forest in his portfolio.
7. George Economou, corporate governance defender?
If there is one thing that does not describe Greek shipowner George Economou, it is corporate governance champion.
When he was preparing to take New York-listed DryShips private in 2019, TradeWinds noted that the company had been ranked last in Michael Webber’s annual corporate governance scorecard — every year since it started in 2016.
Then, starting in late 2023, he turned activist investor, calling out management for what he described as corporate governance failures and even suing Seanergy Maritime Holdings in a Marshall Islands court.
What was behind the aggressive moves?
“I’m doing it to make money,” he told TradeWinds in May. “There’s nothing personal in it at all.”
Now that is classic George Economou.
