The Baltic Dry Index, a blended measure of rates for dry vessels, is down 51 percent this year to record lows. Meanwhile, low oil prices have caused the tanker market, another area that’s been a traditional Greek strength, to undergo a renaissance, though the market typically reverses within three to six months, according to Michail Kokkinis, founder of Piraeus-based ship broker Golden Destiny.
“Greek ship owners are gamblers,” Tony Foster, founder of London-based shipping asset manager Marine Capital. “The history of Greek shipping is that they take risks. The shipping market is volatile and highly cyclical. Greeks are willing to embrace that risk.”
Spiro Latsis, the country’s richest man, diversified his family’s shipping dynasty into banks and now controls a $2.7 billion fortune.
Golden Greeks
Niarchos and Onassis, dubbed the Golden Greeks because of their wealth and celebrity, competed during the second half of the 20th century. They raced to build the world’s largest fleets and outdo each other with the size of their islands, yachts and weddings. Stavros’s son Philip inherited much of his art collection from his father’s estate.
Their influence is still visible today. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation, endowed with a portion of the family’s estate following Stavros’s death in 1996, is responsible for the city’s largest construction project on the site of a former racecourse at the south end of Syngrou Avenue, which bisects the bottom of the city.
The $800 million undertaking, designed by architect Renzo Piano, will house the national library and opera company and feature a 42-acre park on the roof.
Adjacent to the park is the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center. Other donations from shipping dynasties pockmark the city, including the Eugenides Foundation’s planetarium and the Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art.
Today’s top shipping tycoons are more inclined to keep a lower profile, particularly since the crisis hit.
“They’re very hard working and often humble people,” Marine Money’s McCleery said. “For the most part you find these guys who are dedicated and very family orientated. They work their tails off way beyond any monetary need.”