Dr. Nikolas Tsakos, founder and CEO of Tsakos Energy Navigation, listed on the American stock market of the NYSE, gave an overview of the company in an interview on the Watch List with Nicole Petallides, lead anchor at the Schwab Network.
The Greek chief executive spoke live about the role of geopolitics in the shipping and tanker industries, about the drought in the Panama Canal which is affecting shipping traffic and prices, about the role of shipping in decarbonization, about the fact that Ten is celebrating 30 years as a public company in 2023 and the fact that Greek shipping which controls a big part of the world tonnage.
“The geopolitical developments and the turmoil resulted in greater demand for the company´s services. In general, we tend to have long term contracts as TEN’s fleet is chartered at a rate above 95% so we have provided steady income and dividend for our shareholders.”
Regarding Western sanctions against Russia and how they affected the shipping market, he said:
“Russia has been a major exporter of oil and gas to Europe. The sanctions have had the effect of shippers making longer miles to bring oil to Europe or Far East creating more demand than before.”
“Greece is a small country of 11 million people and yet the Greeks control, depending on the type of ships, from 20% to 25% of the world’s tonnage. So, in conclusion ¼ has been transported by Greek ships.”
About the drought which is impacting the traffic in the Panama Canal and progressively lowering the canal’s reservoir levels, Dr. Tsakos commented that ship owners choose routes around the Cape of Good Hope, significantly increasing the travel time and therefore the consumer who already faces high inflation, will have to pay.
When asked how much the seven-week drop in the price of oil, the Greek shipowner replied: “Consider this a weak part for the market, but the lower the price the higher the demand. In any case it’s good for consumers especially in a period of inflation.”
Regarding the green transition, he emphasized the fact that although a huge part of the world trade is transported by sea, the carbon emissions footprint of shipping is 2.8%.
As far as the NYSE, he emphasized that “the heart of the world economy beats here.”
TEN’s diversified energy fleet currently consists of 68 double-hull vessels, including four dual-fuel LNG powered aframax vessels, two DP2 shuttle tankers, two scrubber-fitted suezmax vessels and two scrubber-fitted MR product tankers under construction, constituting a mix of crude tankers, product tankers and LNG carriers, totaling 8.4 million dwt.
