Shipping: N Fleet for Sale

For generations on end, the Greeks have gone into shipping as their natural calling, reassured by an ancient Hellenic proverb that the sea never freezes. Stavros Spyros Niarchos, 55, a trim, dapper Greek and a former brother-in-law of Magnate Aristotle Socrates Onassis, has carried on the tradition with flair and fabulous success, now owns a fleet of 74 tankers and freighters whose stacks bear the white “N” known in every port. But Niarchos, who became the world’s largest independent shipowner, is ready to change course. Last week the word was out that his whole fleet is up for sale.

The sea is not about to freeze, but Niarchos finds it harder to make the kind of money he would like to from shipping. Too many operators and ships are crowding the sea lanes. “They produce ships like hamburgers these days,” says Niarchos. His own fleet has slipped into second place behind the expanding operations of the U.S.’s Daniel K. Ludwig. More and more oil companies, instead of chartering, are buying their own tankers. As a result, cutthroat competition is common among charter operators such as Niarchos: charter rates for a 42,000-ton tanker have dropped from $4 per deadweight ton in 1956 to $1.90 today.

But if Niarchos wants out, he is not selling cheap. The asking price for the fleet and all its contracts is about $260 million, or $100 per deadweight ton. Brokers complain that the price is outrageous, since brand-new ships can be built in Japan for that much or less and at least 15 of the Niarchos ships are considered out of date. Not included in the offer are the prospering Niarchos shipyards near Piraeus or any of his other worldwide investments in oil refineries and aluminum.

Even so, a number of shipowners, including New York-based Marine Transport Lines, were interested enough to have begun serious negotiations. Niarchos bided his time at his St. Moritz chalet after a rousing hunting trip in the forests of Austria.