The shipping group of George Prokopiou has been implementing a shipbuilding program for the constant renewal of its fleet over the last three years.
According to the data gathered by “Naftemporiki”, during this period the companies of Prokopiou interests, and in particular Dynagas, Dynacom and Sea Traders, manage a mixed fleet of 136 commercial ships (LNG carriers, tankers, bulk carriers and containerships).
At the same time, the group’s shipbuilding program currently in progress includes 76 ships, i.e. 55% of the active fleet.
The group expects to receive 10 LNG carriers from a program that had reached 14, a series of tankers, mainly Suezmax and LR, and more than 20 bulk carriers.
In the last month or so, two group companies have placed 14 new orders. They concern four kamsarmax-type bulk carriers to be built at China’s Hengli HI shipyards for 35 million US dollars each on behalf of Sea Traders, as well as 10 suezmax-type tankers to be built at the berths of New Times Shipbuilding, also in China, for Dynacom. The cost for the 10 tankers is about 85 million dollars each. The four bulk carriers are scheduled to be delivered in 2026, while the tankers after 2027.
In the same period, the group, according to “Naftemporiki” sources, has not sold any ships, with the exception of the two LNG FSRUs it had chartered in Germany.
It was among the first to place orders for two FSRUs in 2016 at China’s Hudong Zhonghua shipyards. The company had chartered these ships in Germany in order to deal with the country’s energy sufficiency problem. These FSRUs are on long-term charters in Germany to cover around 25% of the country’s natural gas losses.
Dynagas, the LNG carriers arm of the group, sold the two floating storage and regasification units (Floating Storage Regasification Unit-FSRU) to the US Energos Infrastructure and according to market estimates, this transaction brought the Greek shipowner about 1 billion dollars revenue.
Greece
Regarding Prokopiou’s major investment in Greece, the Skaramangas Shipyards welcomed the first commercial ship for repairs a few days ago. In mid-December, Nafs, the company that manages the shipyards, received the necessary permits in order for the Skaramangas Shipyards to operate and to be able to carry out repairs. Then they started a series of works – repairs to the plant’s systems, pumps, power substations and others and last Saturday, February 24, 2024, they welcomed the Greek-owned chemical tanker “Alfa Sea” of the ENEA Management company.
It was the first merchant vessel to be received by the shipyards since April 2010, following the ban on merchant vessels imposed on the group by the European Commission.
