Maritime CEO: The Year in Review

13 Jan 2015: “However, not everyone is convinced that this new direction for shipping will last forever. Michael Tusiani, Chairman of US brokers Poten & Partners, told readers that the advent of public money and other sources of capital such as private equity and hedge funds has changed the landscape because of the effective separation of the ownership of physical assets from their day-to-day operations. “‘It seems that access to public financing has outweighed the desire for secrecy which the traditional shipowner valued so highly,’ he noted. The primary focus of these public shipping companies, he reckoned, is to demonstrate quarterly growth. ‘As there is a greater pressure to produce quicker returns, operational integrity could be potentially compromised,’ he warned. Most shipowners have put making short-term profit above all else, Tusiani said. ‘The long term doesn’t seem to matter particularly when capital markets are robust,’ he added. “However, Tusiani does not believe that this new shipping structure — where ownership is separated from commercial and technical management – will last for a long time. ‘As soon as there is a major problem, charterers will not stand for them,’ he predicted.”