Page 66 - Next Generation 2015 - Digtial Issue
P. 66
Next Generation Asia
The entrepreneurial
former office
manager has made
the Marshall Islands
Registry a major
presence in Asia
Hong Kong
Annie Ng
It was the entrepreneurial flair friend and maritime colleague as THE world’s ship registers are not
of Nepa that awakened Capt Sastry’s manager. The company grew. exactly in a race to place the most
imagination. He confessed to Mr tonnage under their respective flags,
Einheuser that running operations Not long afterwards, he spotted but they are the decidedly competitive.
wasn’t enough; he always wanted to Accord Shipmanagement, a firm that
be a shipowner. had languished after its Cyprus-based That’s why when the Marshall
owner had exited Hong Kong, selling Islands Maritime and Corporate
Mr Einheuser responded that it to a third party. Capt Sastry bought it Registry’s chief Bill Gallagher
Nepa wasn’t interested in owning whole for Accord for almost nothing — announced in Singapore that it would
ships, but he had no objection if “the price of the tables and chairs”. soon overtake the Liberian register
Capt Sastry structured a deal on the — the world’s largest — some time
side. So he began finding investors By the time US-based Crowley this year, reporters simply took the
and putting together special purpose Maritime Corp purchased the company comment as an assertion of animal
vehicles. Eventually, Nepa became an in April 2014, Accord had offices in spirits.
investor, too. Hong Kong, India, and the Netherlands,
23 vessels under management and But it might actually happen. As of
Capt Sastry won a reputation for employed 55 people. Nepa sold 51% to March 31, Marshall Islands could boast
prescient reading of the market in a Crowley, which saw Accord as a way to more than 118m gt of registered ships.
deal for a 26-year-old dry bulk carrier spread its shipmanagement business It passed the 100m gt mark in February
that he bought in early 2008, when into the Asian arena. of 2014. In 2010, the register had about
the market was still at high. His SPV half that amount, at 52.3m gt.
only owned the ship for six months; Following last year’s Accord deal,
in that time, by trading alone, it Capt Sastry has hit his stride, having That still leaves a way to go to close
earned $3.5m. put together a pool of heavylift vessels the gap with its Liberian counterpart,
in a practical, but ingenious scheme which has 135m gt, according to its
Most investors would have stayed — in that no-one had yet thought of it website. But the Marshall Islands
with the vessel, but Capt Sastry — which ensures high utilisation of this Registry has been travelling the
convinced his partners to sell. The costly equipment. distance rather quickly.
sale — to a Kuwaiti investor and at a
handsome profit — closed within days Several joint ventures struck in If the gap does close this year,
of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. recent years are thriving — from India contribution from the Asian unit
to Guinea. will be the likely cause. Years back,
He began looking for companies when Mr Gallagher was looking to
to buy for Nepa. The first was a modest Looking for a wild and wonderful build the register’s presence in Asia,
shipping recruitment agency in Hong commercial angle on shipping in he noticed an employee that seemed
Kong, in which he placed a longtime unexpected places? It’s likely that Capt unusually energetic, spoke Cantonese
Sastry will already be there. and Mandarin, had good business
sense and approached the business
like an entrepreneur. She happened
to be Annie Ng, the office manager. Mr
Gallagher told her to go out and sell. In
less than 10 years, she was head of Asia.
64 | Lloyd’s List Next Generation 2015 | www.lloydslist.com
