This expansion programme included the acquisition of a 51% interest in six ultra large crude carriers from the Loews Corporation in 1990. The six ULCC’s owned by the jointly-held entity, Hellespont Shipping Corp, developed a strong following among charters because of their high quality and of the standards to which they were maintained and operated. [...]
The adaptation was made in the “watershed years” of 1985 and 1986 which saw Hellespont transform from a provider of equipment to the shipping industry to a provider of ocean transportation services to the end users through its dedicated chartering arms, Seatramp Tankers Inc., and Probulk Carriers Ltd. Since the transformation of Hellespont during the [...]
Some of the Hellespont`s major customers were forced to terminate or discontinue their long-term commitments to employ the Group’s vessels. This unexpected turn of events forced the company to assume commercial and technical management roles on a scale it had never known. Hellespont`s financial stability was preserved through a combination of earnings from remaining long-term [...]
By the early 1970s, world shipping was in a period of significant transformation. The closure of the Suez Canal in 1967 and the ever increasing pace of industrial activity and attendant energy needs of Western Europe, America and Japan gave rise to substantial ordering of very large crude carriers and of other types of large, [...]
The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959 gave rise to an increase in the upstream movement of iron ore from the lower St. Lawrence to Lakes Ontario, Erie and Michigan and in the downstream movement of Canadian and American export grain from Lakehead to lower St. Lawrence transhipment terminals. A new generation of [...]
The next such undertaking came in 1957 when Papachristidis ordered a 45,000 dwt oil tanker – the largest vessel ever built in Canada at that time. This oil tanker, named the “Emerillon”, was subsequently placed on a long-term bareboat charter to a major oil company.
As early as in the mid 50s, Papachristidis laid the foundation for becoming one of the industry leaders and influencers in the tanker segment.
The origins of Hellespont‘s shipping activities date back to after the Second World War in Canada when the Canadian government began disposing of its war-built dry cargo vessels. In 1946 Phrixos B. Papachristidis, grandfather of the current chairman of Hellespont, acquired his first vessel – a coal-burning tween-decker of 4,700 dwt. Within a two-year period [...]
