Arista Shipping: ‘Setting the bar high for others to follow’
There’s a quote on the homepage of Arista Shipping that sums up the pioneering attitude of this Greek shipowner.
“Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.” So said US automaker Henry Ford nearly 100 years ago, a sentiment that Alexander Panagopulos, chairman and ceo of the Greek line, has clearly taken to heart.
Last week Panagopulos was on hand at Posidonia where a plan was put forward to develop a revolutionary LNG-fuelled bulk carrier. Arista has teamed up with ABS, Deltamarin, GTT and Wärtsilä for Project Forward to develop a kamsarmax to be the first of this type suitable for worldwide services powered by LNG in compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s Energy Efficiency Design Index 2025 standards, NOx Tier III and Marpol Annex VI SOx emission levels.
The design also could be applied to other bulk carrier sizes and serve as the basis for an LNG-fueled tanker.
The concept features a Wärtsilä four-stroke, medium-speed engine without auxiliary generators, the first time this configuration has been applied to a vessel of this type, significantly simplifying the vessel’s engine room arrangement and contributing to lower capital expenditure.
“It’s about setting the bar high for others to follow. I think it’s called disruption,” Panagopulos tells Maritime CEO.
Panagopulos says a debut order for this ship type will happen within two years.
Panagopulos was co-founder of Superfast Ferries in 1993 under Attica Group, a Greek-listed entity controlled by the Panagopulos family.
Following the sale of the family’s participation in Attica Group in 2007, he founded Arista Shipping in January 2008 to focus on identifying attractive investment opportunities in various shipping sectors with an emphasis on dry bulk.
