Case Studes in Entrepreneurship, Family Businesses, Social Entrepreneurship

Code : ENT0002

Year :2004

Industry :Transportation

Region : USA

Teaching Note: Available

Structured Assignment : Available

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Introduction: Peter Georgiopoulos (Georgiopoulos), spotted opportunities in money-spinning contracts of ferrying crude oil for big companies. He established General Maritime Ship Holdings (Genmar) in 1997. But he could not get any contract, as he was not an established player. He needed a track record so he negotiated with Universe Tankships, then a highly regarded firm, into managing his first ship. He then poached some of Universe’ key executives, including its chairman, and pitched the firm’s experience to the oil majors. Georgiopoulos said, “I told them, ‘Basically, I’mUniverse Tankships’.”

Six years later, that is, in 2003, Genmar became a leading provider of international sea borne crude oil transportation services. It owned and operated the second largest fleet of mid-sized tankers in the world, based on cargo capacity. In 2003, the Company’s fleet comprised of 46 tankers (27Aframax and 19 Suezmax vessels). The combined fleet had a total capacity of 5.5 million deadweight (dwt) tons with an average age of 11.2 years as on March 31st 2003. For the nine months ended September 30th 2003, Genmar reported a net income of $77.2 million fromthe net voyage revenue of $240.1 million (Exhibits I and II). On November 3rd 2003, ConnecticutMaritimeAssociation named Georgiopoulos as the recipient of the Association’s prestigious Commodore Award for the year 2004. This award is given each year to a member of the international maritime community, who has demonstrated leadership, vision and commitment in the business.

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