http://www.paradisegascarriers.com

History

1947: John Tsakiris, the founder of Tsakiris family shipping interests, joined the exporters of Sudanese    produce in London, Karapanagioti & Co Ltd.

1951: John Tsakiris became a director of Tsakiroglou & Co (Port Sudan) and Sudan Oil Mills Ltd. in charge of production, exports & chartering ground nut oil & derivatives; Through his family connection with the Frangistas family, he started investing into ship-owning by taking minority interests in the Frangistas vessels.

1956: Tsakiroglou & Co undertakes to ship some Sudanese peanuts, within November to December 1956, to Hamburg, for a certain price. On the 2nd of November though, the Suez canal was closed to shipping. The defendant could still have transported the peanuts, within the contractually agreed time, but this would mean going via the Cape of Good Hope, which would have taken four times as long and increased the cost of transport considerably. The case reached the House of Lords 6 years later (Tsakiroglou & Co Ltd v Noblee Thorl GmbH 1962 AC 93); It remains to this day, a classic case of contract law frustration, taught to all law students.

1962: After amicably separating with Frangistas and consolidating their interests in 2 Liberty ships, John Tsakiris together with his brother Vakis & nephew George, set-up Shipping & Produce in London; Shipping & Produce culminated with a fleet of 12 vessels, all cash-financed.

1996: Following a policy of successful disposals, John Tsakiris separated business interests from his brother & nephew, passing management duties to Constantinos Tsakiris. A new company was founded in Athens, under the name Paradise Navigation.

1997: First Vessel acquisition: “Achilleas F” 1980 built, 35000mt Bulk carrier.

1999: Acquisition of two Panamax Bulk carriers: “Stefania” & “Natalie” 65000mt.

2000: Acquisition of first Tanker: “Redina” 1988 built, 61000mts, Coated.

2002: Order placed to Chinese shipyard Hudong for 1 + 1 coated, 72000 Panamax Tankers for delivery September 2004.

• Formation of JV with Heidmar set to own 25% in 1st ship (Aspropyrgos) and participating in the design of the Hudong series ships.

2003: M/V Achilleas F sold for further trading.

• Declaration of option to Hudong and further ordering of 2 more ships, bringing them to a total of 4.
• Formation of 50/50 JV with the Sargeant Group of FL for the last 3 ships in series.
• John Tsakiris dies of Cancer at the age of 79.

2004: Amicable partial split, with the Sargeants retaining 100% of the 4th and last ship of series, Paradise Tankers retaining 100% of the 3rd ship (Daedalos-2005) and the 2nd ship (Ikaros-2004) remaining on a 50%-50% co-ownership.

• ISO 14000 documentation completed and approved by DNV.
• Paradise Navigation becomes a member of the Heidmar-run, panamax tanker, STAR pool. 
• M/T Redina’s time charter with Stentex extented for another 2 years, ending spring 2007.
• Delivery of M/T Aspropyrgos (72000 dwt) from shipyard for trading into the STAR pool.
• Delivery of M/T Ikaros (72000 dwt) from shipyard for trading into the STAR pool.

2005: Delivery of M/T Daedalos (72000dwt) from shipyard for trading into the STAR pool.

2006: M/T Redina sold to B+H Equimar, Singapore.

2007: M/T Polar taken under Paradise Navigation S.A. management. Acquisition of the remaining 50% in MT Ikaros

2008: Concluded strategic deal with Stena Bulk, who acquired 35% of the Holding company Paradise Tankers Corp.

2009: Panamax tankers were renamed to Stena Callas, Stena Chronos and Stena Chiron respectively.

2011: Sold MV Natalie & MV Stefania to Chinese buyers.

2013: JV with Vasilopoulos Family started through Paradise Gas Carriers (PGC).

• Acquisition of M/T Polar, a sister vessel of S. Callas, S. Chronos and S. Chiron.
• Delivery was effected on July 18, 2013 when the vessel was renamed M/T PGC Marina.
• Paradise Group enters into the LPG sector and PNSA becomes a Member of the Gaschem-Gasmare Pool.
• Delivery of the Group’s first LPG carrier, M/V PGC Aratos (ex.  “Syn Alcor”), was effected on October 24, 2013. 

 2014: Paradise Gas Carrriers agreed the acquisition of two more LPG carriers.

• The Newmarket 1, a 6,500 cbm Semi-Refrigerated Gas Carrier built 1999, renamed  PGC Strident Force and the Aintree, a 6,500 Fully Pressurised Gas Carrier built 1997, renamed  PGC Darko King. MoA signed on 13th January 2014 for both acquisitions and delivery effected on 12th and 17th of March 2014 accordingly.
•  Paradise also became a member on Penfield’s Pool, formed by Heidmar former top executives.
• On 4th of November 2014, PGC placed an order for 2 units of 7,500 cbm Fully-Pressurized LPG carriers at Kyokuyo Shipyard in Japan.
• At the end of the year (18th December 2014) PGC acquired 2 sister LR1 tankers, both built in 2004 at Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in China, renamed PGC Ikaros and Aspropyrgos.

2015: PGC Ikaros was sold during May, to Norwegian buyers. The sale was accompanied by a 4-year Bareboat back to PGC.

• The company completed the planned, USD 6 million, capital increase, to be used for further investments.
• On July the 30th, PGC placed an order for 2 more 7,000 cbm, Semi-Refrigerated LPG vessels, at Kyokuyo shipyard in Japan.

 2016: Paradise Gas Carriers secured financing of 67 million USD, from DVB/NIBC, for the 4 LPG NB units on order in Kyokuyo shipyard, Japan.

• Keel laying of PGC Patreas took place during the last quarter of the year, signaling a new era for PGC, towards the delivery of the first NBs.

 2017: PGC sells the older vessel of the fleet, the fully pressurised PGC Darko King, just before the delivery of the FP NBs

• Delivery of the 3 out of 4 NB LPGs, namely the FP, PGC Patreas and PGC Periklis and the SR, PGC Taormina.
• Paradise Gas Carriers’ affiliate company, Paradise Tankers Corporation, is awarded the “Environmental Achievement Certificate” by the port of Long Beach.

 2018: Delivery of the 4th NB LPG, the SR, PGC Eirini.

 2019: Acquisition of minority stakes of approx. 18% in MT PGC Ikaros and MT Companion

2020: After 3 consecutive stake buyouts, PGC ends up with 54% ownership on PGC Companion

• Paradise Gas Carriers increases it’s exposure on LR1 Tankers with PGC Alexandria.

 2022: Sale of PGC Aspropyrgos

 2023: 100% Acquisition of PGC Companion

• Sale of PGC Ikaros

Strategic partnerships

Heidmar : PNSA became a member of Heidmar’s Star Pool (50% owned by Morgan Stanley) in 2004, one of the most competent and transparent pools in the tanker market. Since then, all our panamax vessels have been trading in this pool very successfully, scoring almost maximum pool points outperforming a vast majority of the pool members (approx. 30 vessls).

Sargeant Marine : Formed a strategic partnership with Harry Sargeant III, a well known US shipowner, with whom we jointly built and owned 3 vessels: Ikaros, Daedalos and Polar.

Stena : In 2008, PTC’s shareholders sold 35% of their shares to STENA, hence our vessels were delivered to Stena Sonangol Panamax Pool, where they had been trading until 2012. Stena is one of the world’s leading players in shipping, very active in a number of sectors.

Vamare Shipping : The company has recently formed a strategic relationship with Vamare Shipping, a company  of Vasilopoulos family (well-known in the Pharmaceuticals industry),  to coinvest in the gas sector, focusing mainly on LPG carriers. The two parties have formed the joint venture, PARADISE GAS CARRIERS CORP (PGC).

GaschemGasmare Pool : GaschemGasmare pool is a leading fleet operator in the gas carrier market segment between 3.000 and 35.000 cbm capacity, with a pool fleet of 55 tankers and a total capacity of 472.000 cbm (36 tankers with a capacity of 278.000 cbm are suitable for the transportation of Ethylene). Both managers and Owners are delighted to be part of such a solid platform which shall serve as a base for our desired future growth in the LPG sector. PNSA has been officially accepted as a member of GaschemGasmare pool on the 24th of July 2013.

Penfield Marine Pool : Penfield commercially operates oil tankers on behalf of ship owners worldwide. They deliver superior commercial performance by leveraging its carefully-nurtured broad commercial network of charterers and brokers.  Penfield Marine’s privileged cargo relationships have been built by Penfield’s principals over many years (former Heidmar executives) through successful trading in the tanker markets, a thorough understanding of the needs of oil companies and traders and from years of delivering top quality transportation services.