Greek shipowner George Economou has revealed a significant stake in another fellow shipowner.
The latest move is on the Nasdaq-listed bulker owner OceanPal, according to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Economou’s investment vehicle, Sphinx, a subsidiary of Maryport Navigation, has picked up over 324,000 shares for around $563,000, corresponding to a 9.1% stake in OceanPal based on the company’s 3.55m outstanding shares as of June 30.
OceanPal has three panamaxes and a pair of capes managed by both Diana Wilhelmsen Management and Steamship Shipbroking Enterprises. The fleet, with an average age of 18 years, is estimated to be worth close to $61.5m.
The buy-in is Economou’s second move on Palios family-linked shipowners this year.
In August, the owner of over 100 ships in the dry bulk, tanker and LNG segments bought into the Nasdaq-listed aframax tanker specialist Performance Shipping.
Performance Shipping, formerly Diana Containerships, and OceanPal, a spinoff of Diana Shipping, are chaired by Aliki Paliou and Semiramis Paliou, respectively, the daughters of Simeon Palios, a well-known Greek businessman and shipping veteran.
The stake in OceanPal gives Economou the right to discuss various aspects of the company, including the board composition, management, operations, strategic plans and future. Sphinx said in a filing that he may also seek to explore increasing his ownership through open market purchases or buying from other stockholders.
The reasoning behind OceanPal investment is just about similar to that of Performance Shipping: the company’s shares are “undervalued and are an attractive investment”. However, only days after picking up Performance stock, Economou accused the company of violating certain regulations and requested a probe into the company’s actions.
The war of words that escalated afterward led to Economou being after a board seat at Performance Shipping and seeking resignations from four existing directors, including chief executive Andreas Michalopoulos. Performance shareholders will have the opportunity to vote on his proposals at the company’s 2024 annual meeting, which has yet to be scheduled.
The move on OceanPal now raises new speculation about Economou’s intentions. In a release earlier this month, Performance said Economou has proceeded with increasingly aggressive actions towards the company and that although the company is open to engaging with him it “can only assume the worst”.
