Braemar expands operations in Greece

The strong Greek shipping industry continues to attract international shipping service providers to Athens and Piraeus. Recently it became known that the Braemar consultancy firm is expanding its office in Athens with the creation of a financing department. The head of the office will be Mr. Stefanos Fragos.

For the last four years, Mr. Fragos has been the head of the Athens office of the alternative financing company YieldStreet Marine Finance. Prior to that, he served for 16 years at DVB Bank, while the last four years of this period he was a senior relationship manager at DVB’s office in Athens.

Mr. Fragos will assist local clients in finding financing solutions while offering Braemar’s full range of mergers, acquisitions and restructuring services.

For 2023, Braemar sees great potential in offering capital from Asia to smaller and medium-sized Greek shipowners, the firm said in a statement.

The hiring of Fragos puts Braemar’s Athens office more firmly on the map as a full-service provider, almost three years after its establishment.

Led by managing director Dimitris Kyrtsos, Braemar Athens currently employs a staff of 15 including charter brokers and S&P brokers, as well as analyst Alexandra Alatari.

In terms of individual shipping segments, Braemar expects, as Tradewinds notes, that tanker profits have not yet peaked and will have a correction in 2023 but by 2026 will stabilize well above historical levels. In the dry bulk sector, he expects a boost in vessel sales due to new environmental regulations and a low order book.