Maritime business, reported plainly. Every story linked to its publisher.
Shipping’s great fortunes were made by a handful of owners. An evergreen series on their empires, their rivals and the ships they bet on. A new chapter every Friday, in the Friday Report and here.
“The Golden Greek”
1906?–1975
From a tobacco merchant’s son who fled the burning of Smyrna to one of the largest privately owned fleets on earth — and the 1954 tanker deal with Saudi Arabia that Washington and the oil majors set out to kill.
Fact-checked by the desk · Pending
“The Big N”
1909–1996
Onassis’s brother-in-law, rival and mirror. Traded size records with him through the 1950s, reached the 100,000-ton class ahead of Onassis in 1962, and outlived him by two decades.
Fact-checked by the desk · Pending
“Big John”
b. 1944
Arguably the most influential tanker owner since Onassis. Took control of Frontline in 1996 on the eve of a ten-year boom, launched Seadrill in 2005, and still orders ships in his eighties.
Fact-checked by the desk · Pending
“Constant care”
1876–1965
“No loss should hit us which can be avoided with constant care” (letter to his son, 1946). Two world wars, a family firm from Svendborg, and the discipline that made Maersk one of the world’s largest private fleets.
Fact-checked by the desk · Pending
1918–1991
A banker who came late to shipping and built one of the world’s largest fleets on long charters.
Planned
Fact-checked by the desk · Pending
1912–1982
The founder of Orient Overseas, who bought the old Queen Elizabeth to turn her into a floating university.
Planned
Fact-checked by the desk · Pending
1897–1992
The American who kept building the biggest tanker afloat, in a leased former naval yard.
Planned
Fact-checked by the desk · Pending
Every chapter is fact-checked by the desk before it is published, and lists its sources at the end. Planned chapters stay in preparation until the check clears them. Spotted an error? See our corrections policy.