george economou yacht

By SuperyachtNews 05 Mar 2019

Sailing home

An interview with george economou on why greece is his favourite place to keep his boat….

“Being Greek, you become very spoilt as you have the most beautiful beaches in the world on your doorstep.” I’m chatting with the shipping magnate George Economou over a beautiful Basque dinner at Ametsa in London, and we are exchanging travel stories. Our first meeting at the St Barths Bucket in March was rather fleeting, over pasta at Casa Perini after a hectic day’s racing. Now that we have more time, I’m keen to find out more about his 50m Perini S/Y Baracuda, launched in 2008.

“I have always had motoryachts,” says Economou, “but Baracuda is my first sailing boat. I never had the time to enjoy the one before.” He tells me he ordered the boat back in 2005, but then the economy took an unexpected downturn, and the boat was delayed. “Sometimes you plan things and they don’t come out as expected,” he says as we tuck into our starters. “Business was going well when I ordered her, so I thought I’d have more time to sail around the world. Then the financial crisis happened, which affected all of that. So I thought ‘I may not have that much time after all!’”

Nevertheless, Economou took the newly delivered boat to his first St Barths Bucket the very next year – although he readily admits there was no serious attempt to win the race. “We were missing the spinnaker and didn’t have the right sails, so of course we came in last. If you want a chance at winning you need to be very prepared or have a boat built for racing, like S/Y Unfurled. For me it was just fun; I love St Barths. It was more about the experience.”

Fast-forward seven years and Economou often visits the Caribbean island, choosing to stay on land instead of on board Baracuda. “I don’t actually like staying on a boat in St Barths,” he says. “The Atlantic waves are big and long and create a swell. I don’t get seasick but it’s always rocking and I don’t enjoy that.” Since buying a property on the island, he now spends a good deal of time there, considering it a convenient second home, with sunset views over the harbour. “It takes 15 minutes by car to get from Gustavia to the other end of the island, or to visit any beach or restaurant. I love it there.”

Beyond the Caribbean, Baracuda has sailed as far as French Polynesia and Mexico, but I’m surprised to hear that for the past two or three years, Economou has kept his boat in Greece. “A place doesn’t need to be new to be exciting,” he tells me as our mains arrive at the table. “I like going back to the same places. I look for natural beauty and the beaches there are unparalleled. I’ve done every Greek island. My favourite is Mykonos, although it’s become very crowded. From an aeroplane, all the white houses look like snow. Now I spend more time sailing around the islands by boat. In September it’s still beautiful.”

Economou got his first sailing licence on motoryachts when he was just 23, and with a lifetime of shipping-industry experience under his belt, I can’t help but wonder how he decided on Perini Navi to build his first sailing yacht. “I’ve been in the boat industry forever, so I know everything there is to know!” he laughs. “Perini has good quality, comfortable boats. Wally boats are beautiful too, but you spend most of the time under the deck which isn’t fun. I wanted a boat where there was enough space to enjoy yourself.”

It comes as no surprise that Economou was heavily involved in the build process from the start. “I told Perini I wanted to see the last 10 boats they built so I could work out what I did and didn’t like.” Unused to such involvement, there was understandably pushback on some of the ideas that were put forward but Economou got there in the end. “As a naval architect, I was able to argue my ideas and eventually we came up with the perfect design – in fact, they ended up using it for other boats!” Economou enjoyed the process so much that he even spent a further two days designing a 60m boat for fun, and this was later adopted by Perini.

The interiors of Baracuda, created by Economou’s friend, the renowned British designer John Pawson, are a triumph in modern minimalism, with an open-plan layout not often seen on boats of this type. “He had never designed a boat and actually he hasn’t since,” says Economou. “He is very minimal in his approach and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Often people kill a boat with the interiors.” With four guest cabins in addition to the full-beam owner’s suite, could she be used for charter? “I chartered her for the first time two years ago to someone I knew,” Economou says. “In the beginning I wouldn’t do it but when I came back to Greece and built a house in Paros, I thought I should spend some time on land for a change. Then it made sense.”

So what does the future hold for this owner and industry stalwart? Not another superyacht, apparently. Unlike many owners, Economou has no desire to upgrade to a bigger boat. “I don’t like excessive space if I can’t use it,” he says. “It’s vanity. The bigger the boat, the less pleasing it is aesthetically. I doubt I will buy another boat after this.”

Happily for Economou, it seems he’s totally satisfied with Baracuda , and as we polish off our desserts and drain the last of the red wine, he explains why he chose to own rather than charter. “I spend a decent amount of time on my boat. I enjoy it, it’s not just a vacation. My boat is my life.” Cheers to that.

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19 George Economou, TMS

Having brought his shipping company dryships back from bankruptcy and built a shareholding of about 83%, george economou bought out the remaining investors for about $75m to take the company private after more than 14 years on nasdaq.

• 13 Dec 2019
• Lloyd’s List

The Greek magnate's diversified fleet consists of about 130 ships, spanning bulkers, tankers and LNG carriers

GEORGE Economou is a serious art collector. He recently gifted a monumental Peter Doig painting to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art for its 150th anniversary and a gallery at London’s Tate Modern bears his name.

Mr Economou extols the need to visit galleries and meet artists to be at the front of the queue when a desirable work becomes available. It’s a competitive world.

Things may not work exactly the same in shipping, but for the past two decades, the hyperactive Greek magnate has been seemingly comfortable in the public eye, his every move watched like few other shipowners on the planet.

Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Mr Economou likes to be an early mover. Whether it’s acquiring vessels or taking emergency action to redeem an investment caught out by the market, the signature is generally bold and unhesitating.

That was the case two years ago, when his offshore drilling company Ocean Rig was the first to file for bankruptcy protection in the US and to restructure.

This enabled it to emerge in a much fitter shape and, at the end of 2018, conclude a merger with market leader Transocean, leaving Mr Economou with a 2% stake.

Others continue to struggle in a sector that was decimated by a plunge in energy spending when oil prices slumped and which, he believes, still looks “ugly”.

Through force of will and restless financial engineering, Mr Economou also brought his Nasdaq-listed shipping company DryShips back from the brink of bankruptcy but was quick to recognise that it was not equipped to tap into the traditional benefits of a public company in a climate of widespread investor antagonism towards shipping.

Having built a shareholding in the company of about 83%, he bought out remaining investors for about $75m to take DryShips private after more than 14 years on Nasdaq.

This may not be the end of the public markets for his group. He does not rule out a future return, particularly for a capital-hungry project such as the group’s liquefied natural gas carrier arm, TMS Cardiff Gas, helmed by son Christos.

Yet if so, it is unlikely he will want to personally front any more investor roadshows. No longer being listed is unlikely to equate to any loss of influence.

“You have to be flexible,” he says. “Different times demand different structures — sometimes capital markets, sometimes private equity, sometimes leasing.”

A constant in his playbook, though, is: “You always have to be diversified.”

Mr Economou and his team now control a privately held fleet of about 130 ships, including 50 tankers, 57 bulkers, six offshore support vessels, one containership and the TMS Cardiff Gas fleet of five LNG carriers in the water, with 11 on order — one of the biggest construction programmes in the sector.

All the LNG carriers are fully financed and long-term chartered.

The group also owns the Heidmar tanker pools business and Mr Economou is a 10% shareholder in US-listed containership owner Danaos.

The long-term LNG charter portfolio can be taken as a sign of his group’s yearning to dial down the risk-taking in future but reduction of risk is relative in the Economou universe.

Looking back at the bulk and tanker businesses, what is most eye-catching right now is one of the biggest exhaust gas-cleaning system programmes in the industry.

Mr Economou personally believes allowing scrubbers to be seen as equivalent to burning low-sulphur fuel was a regulatory error.

However, in typical fashion, he has gone all-in with retrofits for all vessels under 15 years of age, irrespective of size.

As a spot market player, the group will shoulder the entire cost of the programme, which could reach $450m or more, but will be hoping to reap the benefits.

This contrasts with many significant scrubber installation programmes that have been funded by time charterers.

As a realist, Mr Economou has never sugar-coated the shipping business that has made his fortune. Recently, he told an industry conference that owners are merely glorified taxi drivers.

Tramp shipping in particular is “taxi drivers in New York without the tariffs”, he says, elaborating to Lloyd’s List: “It’s a mature business, cut-throat, highly fragmented and price-sensitive.”

Mr Economou also appeared in the Top 100 in 2010 ,  2011 ,  2012 ,  2013 ,  2014 ,  2015 ,  2016 ,  2017  and 2018 .

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Introduction

• Essays/Memoirs
• Selected Poems
• Selected Translations
• Paul Blackburn Translations
• List of Articles and Reviews
• Selected Articles

George Economou (1934-2019) was born on September 24, 1934, in Great Falls, Montana, to Amelia Ananiadis Economou and Demetrios George Economou, a businessman and rancher, both of whom emigrated to the United States from Greece. After primary and secondary school education in Great Falls, he attended Colgate University, where he majored in English and graduated cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1956. He earned an M.A. with High Honors in English Literature at Columbia University in 1957 and a Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature in 1967, specializing in Old and Middle English and continental literature. He taught for 41 years at Wagner College (1958–60), the Brooklyn Center of Long Island University (1961–83, as Department Chair, 1982–83), and at the University of Oklahoma (1983–2000), where he served as Chair of the Department of English (1983–1990) and Director of Creative Writing (1990–2000). He was also invited to teach as Visiting Professor at Hunter College, CUNY (1967–68, 1972) and at Columbia University (1971, 1981–82). He served for twenty years as the Field Editor of Old and Middle English Literature for the Twayne English Authors series and on the PMLA Advisory Committee (1986–90) as well as on numerous scholarly and professional advisory boards and committees. He was one of five founding editors of The Chelsea Review (1957–60) and co-founding editor of Trobar and Trobar Books (1960–64) with Robert Kelly.

He has published fourteen books of poetry and translations and three books of scholarly criticism, as well as over a hundred articles, essays, and book review, and has lectured and given poetry readings at many universities and literary venues throughout the United States and abroad. Numerous of his poems have been translated into Greek, French, Spanish, and Ukrainian. In addition to a research grant in 1975 from The American Council of Learned Societies, he has been named twice as Fellow in Poetry by The National Endowment for the Arts (1988 and 1999), as New York State CAPS Fellow in Poetry (1976–77) and Rockefeller Bellagio Fellow in Residence (May–June, 1993). His primary archive and papers are held in The Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University, with smaller collections in the libraries of the Universiity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Princeton University. He and poet and playwright Rochelle Owens were married on June 17, 1962, in Great Falls, Montana.

Photo credits: Lisa Askins (top), Andrea Augé (right), Lisa Askins (center), Susan Smith Nash (right), George Economou (bottom).

George Economou returns to US capital markets with tanker play

Greek tycoon has taken a major stake in a company known for selling shares through the Maxim Group

He’s back! Well, sort of.

The return of legendary Greek shipowner George Economou to the US capital markets is this time happening not through one of his own companies, but rather via buying more than 1m shares in New York-listed aframax tanker owner Performance Shipping.

Nasdaq-listed Performance revealed in a filing with US securities regulators on Friday that Economou and his Sphinx Investments vehicle had snapped up a 9.5%

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