The Adriatic collapse: have we learned the lessons?

The demise of Adriatic Tankers was a big story for TradeWinds, which led the way in reporting on crews abandoned around the world as creditors fought for control of vessels.

But did the mid-1990s collapse reflect a turning point for corporate transparency in shipping — or was Adriatic’s disintegration a one-off that can be put down to over-expansion? Were lessons learned, or do the recent travails of TMT point to the persistence of similar problems?

Starting out with two ships in 1978 when he took over from his father, Adriatic owner Panagis Zissimatos built up a fleet of 84 ships by 1993, more than half of which were small chemical or products tankers.