FT series: Shedding secrecy

In our multi-part series on shipping tycoons, Robert Wright profiles some of the key decision makers in the shipping industry and reveals how companies, which have traditionally been secretive, are becoming more open – and in some cases listing publicly

Part I: John Fredriksen is making a fortune on spot markets and using long-term deals to protect shareholders

Part II: Greek shipowners are embracing the half-public, half-private model as a way to adapt to the growing complexity of the sector

Part III: Two container lines have risen rapidly from Mediterranean foundations to dominate much around them

Part IV: Nobu Su – an unassuming-looking Taiwanese who one rival describes as having an “enormous appetite for risk” – would have stood out in any era of shipping

Part V: Hong Kong’s Helmut Sohmen has transformed a company run as the personal fief of Sir YK Pao, his father-in-law, into a modern group while his son plays a different role from many younger generations in contemporary shipping groups

Part VI: The stamina and endurance of Maersk McKinney-Møller, the 94-year-old son of the company’s founder, never cease to astonish his staff

Part VII: Traditional methods have provided ballast for two of the world’s biggest container lines, Orient Overseas Container Line and Evergreen Marine

Part VIII: New York-based Peter Georgiopoulos is the head of three listed shipping businesses. “I don’t fall in love with these things,” he says of his companies’ ships