John Faraclas
The BDI (Baltic Dry Index) closed earlier on today at 1,477 points, up 19… The Geopolitical situation remind us of a Yellowstone situ…. WISTA-Hellas’ Annual Forum at the Athenaeum InterContinental more than a great success, as did the Chios Village Ladies’ Friends at their annual Tea event in Athens’ Grand Bretagne Hotel! John Faraclas’ daily briefing:
The Capes BCI was up 87 points at 3,540… no worries but be cautious…
The Panamaxes BPI was up just four points at 1,299…
The Supras’ BSI gained nine points and now reads 923 points…
Mixed feelings for the Wets; enigmatic as always particularly over the last year… The last published BDTI (Dirties) and BCTI (Cleans) stood at 812 points – down eight and 602 – up two respectively.
The WTI as these line are being written stands at US$ 58.90 – it might go even a bit more higher… CAUTION!!! Never forget the poor masses!
The Geopolitical issues still the same:
The MIGRANTS remain the biggest headache; despicable incidents among Afghani ones on the Greek island of Lesvos with one death following stabbings and at least a dozen injured. Elsewhere more and more arrive at the Geek Aegean Islands from the Anatolian Coast of Turkey and others drown in the Med. SHAME! No excuses from the Diplomats and Politicians! This morning we uploaded a very interesting piece of news on Amerika Square – just have a look and see what you can do for the entire issue as well as with its content…
The fighting continues in Syria and Iraq against the remnants of ISIS as well as between the dozens of functions there with the “spearhead” being the Kurdish issue… Expect the unexpected. You see promises make debts and debts make promises…
The entire Middle East region and its periphery is on fire which slowly slowly spreads beyond that periphery: add to this the religious factor and see not just what you get, but the Armageddon coming…
Turkey as always ready to stir the muddy waters with more blackmail and deceit and this extends to the Balkans…Wonder when the “guardians” of Turkey come down to their senses before they come down to their knees… Moreover Turkish behaviour with its neighbouring Greece might ignite hell… Let’s see president Erdogan’s visit, the first for a Turkish president to Greece after nearly seven decades!!! Turkish internal situation is not that rosy as Erdogan declares… Just wait and see…
Greece engulfed with internal and external problems from within and imported ones lives its most difficult period. Its fragile coalition “blessed” from Brussels might collapse; but even if it doesn’t – for argument’s sake will create a fatally wounded nation with whatever this entails… All change is the most appropriate message for the 300 parliamentarians… CAUTION…
The Balkans are also still in a mess…
Cyprus’ situation is also dodgy…
Egypt and Libya for different reasons are in trouble… A very difficult neighborhood to be…
As we are talking about African countries we hope for a normal transition in Zimbabwe as well as a peaceful environment in Kenya…
BREXIT continues to make waves and let’s have the patience to see what’s next and how this British decision will keep all happy – from next door Ireland as well as Northern Ireland to Europe, this mighty continent…
Still without government in Germany and Mrs. Merkel capabilities are being tested…
At the other side of the Atlantic president Trump continues tackling the multiple of internal and external issues… Now, amongst other things happening we had this Pocahontas jibe; president Trump breaks all records and that adds some flavour to his presidency; no worries… One worry though is the one from North Koreas’ unpredictable actions…
In South America Argentinians are very much concerned of and for whatever happened to their San Juan submarine… 44 are missing including one woman from the crew. 4,000 people from all over the world ae searching for the lost submarine… It is now 13 days since the sub went missing (15th of November).
Russian president Putin watches his calculated game enfolding…
More news tomorrow… but just remember the World is on fire… and this coupled with Economic, Energy and religious issues will definitely trigger unwanted situations…
Angie Hartmann, president of WISTA-Hellas introducing the event
On another tone now, our teams attended two very unique events; the one was the well timed super WISTA-Hellas’ Annual Forum at a full house in Athens Athenaeum InteContinental Hotel were Angie Hartmann and her team managed to steal the show… “Shipping New Horizons / Trends and Challenges” might become the event of the year; brief and to the point with two well selected panels and themes to debate…
The first panel’s theme was “What are the challenges that may affect the shipping industry?”; it was moderated by Yanis Perlepes, NAFTEMPORIKI’s general manager who had a difficult task, given the diverse views of the panellists and those from the audience vis-à-vis the environment, the BWMC and mainly the emissions issue. All in all we can say that the IMO considered the availability of low sulphur fuel but hasn’t considered the availability of funds. The huge bill will be “carried”, the burden rests with the shipping industry to …pay the damage… Have noticed that in the panel there wasn’t any uniformity whatsoever with the opinions expressed on what the shipowners need to do; one was to wait for the future, another recommendation to install scrubbers in newbuildings, at least for the oceans (open high seas) and lastly there were voices for a grace transition period…
The first panel
We pressed and expressed the view on using alternative sources of energy and stop mickey-moussing about… Do we really care about the environment? Can we take a bold look and implement bold decisions as holistic ways, regret don’t have a leg to stand! The six-member strong panel comprised by all reps of all of industry’s main stakeholders, some of them being very close friends: Stamatis Bourboulis from Euronav, our friend Dr. John Kokarakis from Bureau Veritas, Theodore Kontes from Majestic International Cruises – a very good friend, Hamish Norton from Star Bulk Carriers very bold and did his best to defend his views and market projections, Christiana Prekezes the powerful lady of Helmepa – always ready to respond; another good friend too, and Kostas Vlachos from Consolidated Marine Management – all being involved at the highest level of their business entities!
The late coffee break was a much need …a present for all to recharge batteries…
The second panel
The second panel was moderated by our good old friend John N. Cotzias who recently launched his town Shipbrokers hub… “How shipowners cope with the industry challenges ahead?” was very well debated. Another six-member strong panel with even number of male and female personalities expressed, obviously each members view. There were many opposing views among the panellist as well as from the audience, some of which strongly challenged not only some of the panel-members views but also the wide perspective of the course shipping is heading to! Sadan Kaptanoglou from Turkeys Kaptanoglou Shipping – a regular in many international conferences and fora; with a good humour too! Lia M. Vergou from Vergos Marine Management – know her from when she was a student as well as her late father Michalis; up and coming and very eloquent Milena Pappas from Star Bulk Carriers, being watched by her father Petros Pappas, banker/shipping man Vassilis Mantzavinos from UniCredit Bank AG, Valentios “Eddie” Valentis from Pyxis Tankers and distant relative and family friend Aristides J. Pittas! Each panellist had his/ he own views on size, scope, and indeed the future. Consolidation, particularly in the Box Tade… another major issue… Let’s see how they continue in the tempest of this unique environment of the shipping adventure… we had to make as a medium our case not just heard but warningly understood. You see we are not fortune tellers but we know when the going gets tough to protect shipping’s interests and fortunes… One of points was that of Academia: wonder why until now why nobody taught students at all levels on how to successfully tackle a shipping crisis!!! We need a reply from all in Academia! Also from the so called gurus. Both categories have spectacularly failed to deliver! Any objection? Obviously news is what they don’t tell us and conversely teach… I wouldn’t like to comment on shipfinance… nor about the Athens Stock Exchange which can be a very useful tool for the Shipping Industry inits entirety, ships, ports and terminals, touristic projects… and nobody made any mentioning whatsoever…
Smiling faces and feeling content: Anny Zade, Maria Mavroudi from Marsh D. Helena Thanopoulou, Panos Moraitis and Marsia Ioannidiboth from ASPIDA
Interesting to hear Greece’s opposition MP on Transport and Shipping John Plakiotakis views/message… Good to see also Haris Theocharis MP from opposition party ND asking questions…
The Reception that followed was great not just good and needed for its networking process but also meeting old and making new friends. Add the ten or so stands from various companies offering their products and services as well as their latest achievements in their field of practice and operational services and you can see the well organised WISTA-Hellas’ Forum success!
Pity Greece’s shipping minister Panagiotis Kouroublis wasn’t there in person – appeared and delivered his greetings message by video, as he could participate in the debate and better understand what’s taking place right now… Anyway… Our position remains for a bleak market, a market good only for the very very very few! Remember there are 7 (seven) plus billion people on Planet Ocean and 8 (eight) billion tons of cargoes to be carried…
WISTA-Hellas’ BoD members, members of the secretariat, WISTAs from UK, Turkey and friends; a show of force
Congrats to the 270 plus member WISTA-Hellas and its president and the entire BoD and secretariat for putting together this annual forum! Attracting nearly 300 delegates including many university students on a Monday is more than a success! Covering Bulkers, Tankers, Containers, LNG and other types of tonnage as well as issues such as the Regulatory jargon, the Environment, the Energy and other relevant issues, scrapping and newbuldings in such a short period of time is more than an achievement! Worth noticing the 50 (fifty) or so sponsors and supporters from all side of the shipping equation! Drinks and hot dips finger leaking good! Don’t forget to log on www.wista.net and see the success of WISTA-Hellas!
Mariela Varonis at the podium delivering he speech
The other event which was attended solely by Anny Zade in the heart of Athens’ Constitution Square was the annual late afternoon charity Tea event organised by the ladies of the “Friends of Chios Village” (ΟΙ ΦΙΛΟΙ ΤΟΥ ΧΙΩΤΙΚΟΥ ΧΩΡΙΟΥ) at the spacious main hall of the Grand Bretagne Hotel. Nearly 400 ladies from Chios and their friends, the majority of whom live in Attica, gathered to support all those in need – a great raffle as every year helps a lot! Four companies and individuals also complemented the event with an exceptional fashion and jewellery show with live models!
l to r: Popi Malakou, Angeliki Glyptis, Anny Zade and Afroditi Avgousti
Anem of Anna Anemomilou, 2803 Fashion Loft and Elena Koulaouzidou – dresses and furs and Drakopoulos fine jewel created a great evening thanks to the artistic organisation of Alice agence evenementielle Athenes !
A very stimulating and above all touching speech by the Charity’s president Mariella Varonis. Indeed the majority of attending ladies emanate from the shipping industry; shipmanagement and seafaring interwoven – we do stress this so the message goes and reaches the appropriate people!
Red, hot and stunning… Business look too!
Time to boost this charity know to us for nearly six decades…
It was launched by the late Mrs. Maria Andrea Lemos in 1956 and its work and offerings is second to none! Viewers can log on www.filoichiotikouxoriou.gr and have a look…
Have a nice evening and be as always on guard from anything emanating by Pirates and Terrorists looming in the background all over Planet Ocean!
All the girls on their final exodus being applauded by the Chian ladies and their friends
One of Elena Koulaouzidou’s outfits
