TEN – Pioneering Practices
London International Shipping Week(LISW) has been a mainstay of the maritime industry conference circuit for many years, and 2023 was no exception. Some 30,000 maritime professionals from 70 nations descended on the UK capital in September to network, share new ideas, and immerse themselves in the big issues facing the shipping industry: global trade, economic security and, of course, decarbonization.
One of the highlights of the week was undoubtedly the LISW23 Headline Conference, sponsored by Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN). Held in the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) overlooking the UK’s most important maritime trade route, the majestic River Thames, the meeting focused on a central theme of “Reframing Risk in a Complex Marketplace.” This premier-level conference explored shipping’s macroeconomic environment in the context of the energy crisis and the wider geopolitical dynamics, which have the potential to disrupt the shipping industry as it navigates a complex route towards zero emissions.
TEN’s sponsorship of this midweek event was entirely fitting, for if any company has the experience, expertise, and downright determination to meet these challenges, it is surely TEN. Originally established by Captain Panagiotis Tsakos as the Tsakos Group of Companies in 1970, the formidable Tsakos dynasty has over the decades built this family business into one of the shipping industry’s leading lights.
It was Dr. Nikolas P. Tsakos, son of the founder, who established the pioneering shipping start-up TEN, launching the company on the Oslo Stock Exchange. TEN then became in 2002 one of the first international shipping companies to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and began setting a benchmark for transparency in a traditionally opaque industry. Today it is one of the longest-serving concerns on the NYSE.
The company has gone on to build a diversified fleet of more than 125 vessels, with a combined fleet value of approximately $10 billion. It has also branched out into a range of related activities, ranging from shipbuilding, ship repair and ferry services to oil exploration, forestry, real estate, a number of major renewable energy projects and infrastructure.
Since that Wall Street listing, TEN has registered over $2.5 billion in profits and has, moreover, always paid a dividend irrespective of market cycles. Latest estimates suggest that total
