A chance for leadership.

(From Lloyds List)

Last week's confirmation i of Nick Fistes as the new chairman of Intertanko, the independent tanker owners' association, in effect guarantees a 'clean sweep' of leadership of the top industry associations by a single nationality.

When BIMCO president-elect Philip Embiricos is confirmed in June, Greeks will head all four of the Round Table international shipping associations, not to mention holding the top job at the International Maritime Organization.

This has never happened before and is a planetary alignment of such peculiarity it will probably never again occur.

At one level it is pure coincidence. Greece has been the world's largest shipowning nation for decades and it can be argued that an even stronger showing in industry fora is in fact overdue.

In view of Greeks' leading presence in dry bulk and tankers, the chairmanships of Nicky Pappadakis and Mr Fistes at Intercargo and Intertanko are no surprise, it being a decade since Greeks headed either organisation.

Looking back, the incidence of Greeks leading either association is about one in every four or five terms of office, an accurate enough reflection of their share of the tanker and dry bulk trades. Meanwhile, Mr Embiricos will be only the second Greek president of BIMCO, following the late George P Livanos in 1989-91.