An Interview （2）for Empire Chemical Tanker Holding Inc.:
1) The current overview of Empire Chemical Tanker Holding Inc. (including the number of owned vessels, ships under management, etc.).
“Empire currently manages five vessels but is part of a bigger historic family group that owns 60 vessels. Although Empire was created to focus mainly only on the management of chemical, LPG, and product tankers, it has the expertise to manage any type of vessel. Leonidas Polemis has been the CEO of Empire since 2006, he has 32 years of shipping experience in London and Athens, managing tankers and dry cargo vessels with a Marine Engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan, USA, and an MBA from Imperial University, London. The staff of Empire has a deep understanding of shipping with Captains and Engineers who have been with the group for 40 years starting as apprentices onboard their ships, which underpins a strategy for quality management focusing on efficiency and the crew’s pride in their work. This combination of a long history in shipping coupled with modern technological tools produces good results in the ship’s performance, vetting, CDI, port state control and terminal feedback, while ensuring minimum downtime.”
2) The history of Empire Chemical Tanker Holding Inc. (including the year of establishment, etc.).
“Empire was created in 1997 to focus on the management of Chemical, LPG, and Product Tankers where it had ordered over 27 new buildings in 2006-2010, as part of a wider group that has a history in shipping since 1778. The company stems from a family in shipping that has owned and managed over 100 ships of different types over the past 50 years.”
3) I heard your father was a great Greek shipowner. Please tell us about the shipowning business of your company during your father’s era.
“Leonidas’ father is Spyros Polemis who is a prominent ship owner that was originally based in New York in the 1960s owning and managing ships with US flag for coastal trading. Spyros then moved to London in the early 1970s and established Seacrest Shipping Co. Ltd, becoming also very involved in various industry institutions such as chairman of Newcastle P&I (then North of England), Chairman of I| national Chamber of Shipping (ICS), President of International Shipping Federation (ISF), Chairman of Intercargo, Excom member of Intertanko, Vice Chairman of the Greek Cooperation Committee, committee member of ABS, DNV, Freeman of the City of London and Livery of The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights in London, earning sincere respect amongst his peers. Spyros eventually realized his dream, in 2008, to convince the US Senate to finally agree to release and donate the last surviving Liberty ship, “Arthur H. Huddell”, to the Greek government as part of a historic show of appreciation to the Greek shipping community’s sacrifice of 334 ships and over 2,000 crew during WWII Nazi U-boat sinking of the Greek merchant fleet, which has now become a museum in Piraeus Port, Greece, called “Hellas Liberty”.
4) The background and reasons for establishing a joint investment with Mr. Bist and Empire DLAT Limited.
“The joint venture between Empire and DLAT was strategic to help grow the business globally by combining expertise in technical, commercial, and crewing management to provide a professional service to ship owners, traders, investors, and charterers. Empire is based in Greece which is a significant center for shipping in Europe, with 20% of the world fleet controlled by local ship owners, along with extensive depth in technical and commercial expertise from a large pool of industry professionals. DLAT, which is run by Krishan, who has good experience in commercial ship operation and crew management, is based in a country that is fast becoming a very important global economy with a growing requirement for shipping and great potential of well-educated, English-speaking crew workforce.”