George J. Procopiou’s business card states that his title is Civil Engineer. That fits very well with the personal style of Dynacom, a family-operated company in Glyfada, just outside Athens in Greece.
But the impression of a family-owned and -operated shipowner confirms the commitment to shipping and to running a professional company. It is hands-on for Mr Procopiou, whose company will take delivery of no fewer than 21 newbuildings next year. “Running Dynacom is both our business and hobby,” says Procopiou, underlining that it is teamwork that creates success and not a one-man show. Transforming Dynacom from a company operating basically second-hand tonnage into the present-day operator of a young fleet with an ambitious newbuilding programme is quite an achievement, and we are pleased to have an opportunity to learn more about the company from the very engaged George Procopiou, Civil Engineer, who occupies the corner office.“Since 2000, we’ve ordered no fewer than 85 newbuildings, and next year (2009) we will take delivery of another 21 vessels. We have good in-house expertise on newbuildings and on what we should look for when it comes to additions and changes to the yard designs. Normally, when we go through the specifications we end up with some USD 4–6 million in additions. This means that we take delivery of vessels made to our specifications, and the important thing here is that these vessels are as attractive to us as they are to potential users” says Procopiou.
One of the main reasons for Dynacom’s success is the company’s in-depth knowledge of shipping acquired over a long-term period. The company has first-rate operational and technical knowledge of the vessels. “The enthusiasm for what we do in terms of shipping experience and know-how makes our people stay on – we are all very proud of our achievements as we all identify ourselves very strongly with our company.
The fleet today comprises some 50 vessels – mostly tankers and some LNG carriers,” he says.
Environment
Fuel prices are on the way up, as has been the case for a while. Engine manufacturers must maintain a focus on achieving the best possible fuel consumption and least possible emissions. Slowing down
vessels to reduce the per mile fuel consumption and consequently emissions is
of course a quick fix for air pollution issue. It is the engine makers task to design and build engines with lower
emission levels.
A longer term solution might be in switching from fuel oil to LNG.
On the suggestion that larger vessels could be more environment friendly, this is a complex issue as many factors have
to be in line to enable the use of larger
vessels, such as port sizes water depth, shore installations. All such topics should be addresses simultaneously and under the spectrum of the global effects on
pollution and not the regional ones.
LNG
The move into the highly specialised LNG business, which used to be a rather closed business segment with particularly high standards, confirms Dynagas’s commitment to shipping and energy transportation and it achieved due to the company’s high standards and knowledge. “The age of our LNG vessels is less then two years The LNG market is soft for the time being, but I strongly believe that this will change over time. Two main reasons for this are that using coal for power production is not all that environmentally acceptable in many countries and, with the soaring prices for oil products, power production based on oil will have to be reduced. In many countries, nuclear power is either banned or has a bad public image. That leaves natural gas, as it is much more environmentally friendly with lower levels of CO2 emissions and almost no SOx and NOx emissions. Some projects have been delayed as the LNG production facilities either have not been finished in time or are experiencing technical problems. But the orders for ships are there and right now there are too many vessels waiting for cargoes, which reduces the rates – but I am confident that this will change,” says Procopiou.
Crew and TMSA
Crewing our vessels is always a challenge and we do so through training facilities we have in both Mumbai and Manila. Our people are loyal to the company, and our turnover rate is low. The introduction of TMSA (Tanker Management Self Assessment), is all about good seamanship and good practices. We see the advantages of being able to document our operations and our actions. This is good, because it provides a systematic bencmarking and thus improving our own people’s performance.