probunkers will contribute to the development of LNG marine infrastructure by providing premier and reliable LNG bunkering services. We aim to be among the early movers who will support the future of Sustainable Shipping and Green Energy.
probunkers will contribute to the development of LNG marine infrastructure by providing premier and reliable LNG bunkering services. We aim to be among the early movers who will support the future of Sustainable Shipping and Green Energy.
probunkers Holding was established in 2017 in Cyprus. Its headquarters are based in Athens, Greece. The company will have shareholding control over a group of companies operating in the sectors of shipping and energy. The Shipping division will design, build, own and operate a fleet of LNG supply vessels. They will all be single vessel entities owned 100% by probunkers Holding. The Commercial Companies will also be fully owned by the Holding company. The Commercial division will have presence and operate in seven geographical locations across the globe, through local branches; each of them will include operational and crewing departments overseen by three main regional trading offices with sales and customer service departments.
Alexander Prokopakis – Chief Executive Officer
Alexander Prokopakis is the CEO of LNG PRO Bunkers Holdings and the architect of the probunkers project. Prior to founding probunkers, he served Mamidakis Brothers Group as a senior executive, leading all of the Group’s Shipping, Bunkering and Aviation activities, through its respective companies: JetOil, JetTank and STYGA Compania Naviera. Mr. Prokopakis has over 20 years of professional experience in commercial leadership positions, over which he has attained deep knowledge and expertise mainly in the industry of shipping and bunkering. He is a Graduate of St. John’s University with an MBA in Executive Management and holds a BSc Degree in Business Management from the State University of New York.
Vassilis Hatzigiannis – Chief Financial Officer
Vassilis Hatzigiannis is the CFO of LNG PRO Bunkers Ltd. Prior to joining probunkers, he served as senior executive with the role of Projects & Finance Head with Primal Shipmanagement Inc. a dry-bulk shipmanagement and dry cargo operations group and Alba Maritime Services S.A. a dry-bulk shipping company. His role covered Finance (debt & equity capital markets where he raised over $0.5 billion of debt for the needs of the companies, instrumentally participated in a $1,10 billion M&A transaction with a US stock listed company and carried out roadshows for equity capital raising), Commercial (cargo COAs, Freight & Bunkers exposure hedging, monitoring of the book of cargoes & commercially controlled fleet), as well as new projects development & funding and negotiations of newbuilding contracts. Vassilis had senior positions in the Shipping Finance Division of HSBC Bank, Societe Generale Hellas and Egnatia Bank. He is a graduate of CASS Business School MSc Shipping, Trade & Finance and holds a BSc in Economics from Piraeus University.
Andreas Zompanakis – Technical Manager
Andreas Zompanakis is the Technical Manager of LNG PRO Bunkers Ltd.. Before joining the team in probunkers, he served as Fleet Manager with Prime Tanker Management Inc. and as Superintendent Engineer with Anthony Veder Rederijzaken B.V. being responsible for the technical management and commercial acceptance of oil, product, chemical and gas tankers varying from small scale to mid-size gas carriers and from MRs to LR2 tankers. His responsibilities covered the execution of dry-docking repairs, the integration of new buildings and second hand acquisitions to the fleet, modifications project management, the efficient, safe and environmentally sound operation of the fleet, as well as the compliance to TMSA and Oil Majors’ vetting requirements. Andreas holds a MSc in Shipping Management from TU Delft and a MSc in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).
Panos Yannoulis – President and Chairman of the BoD
Panos Yannoulis is a naval architect and marine engineer. He has graduated from the University of Genoa, Italy, in 1970. His professional experience covers ship research, ship design, shipbuilding and project management.
During his career, he was in charge, as designer, project manager or shipyard divisional director, of multimillion dollar projects for a variety of ship types and marine structures. He covered top technical managerial positions, namely Newbuilding’s Manager at Hellenic Shipyards, Skaramanga, Greece and Technical Director at Avlis Shipyards, Chalkis, Greece. Presently, he is Partner and President of OCEANKING S.A.
Mr. Yannoulis is a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece, the Hellenic Association of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers and a Fellow Member and ex-President of the Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology. Furthermore, he is ex-President of the International Maritime Association of the Mediterranean (IMAM). He is author of technical papers in technical publications and presented papers in various international and national conferences and seminars on ship design and/or construction matters.
Costas Hassiotis – Executive Member of the BoD
Costas Hassiotis holds a First Class Honors B.Sc. degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (U.K.). He also holds a Master of Science (MS) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as in Management Studies (M.Sc.) from Durham University (U.K.).
He began his career as Technical Manager of British Shipbuilders in Greece, until the mid-80s when he founded OCEANKING in which he is presently the Vice President. Costas Hassiotis is a member of the Hellenic Institute of Marine Technology and a founding member of the Hellenic Branch of the British Institute of Marine Engineers and Naval Architects. He is also member in many other professional bodies and Associations.
Alexandros Zaracoudis – Executive Member of the BoD
Alex Zaracoudis holds an Msc in Finance from Bentley University in Boston. He has over 20 years experience in international maritime finance, capital markets, project finance, trading, commercial management and technical ship operations. He has successfully raised in excess of $2 billion for maritime projects with international banks. He is currently CEO of Unisea Shipping, managing crude oil tankers and dry bulk vessels. Alex had executive roles in finance and shipping including Cardiff Marine, Eurofin Group, Merlin Tankers and Arista Shipping.
Alexander Prokopakis – CEO and Secretary of the BoD
Alexander Prokopakis is the CEO of LNG PRO Bunkers Holdings and the architect of the probunkers project. Prior to founding probunkers, he served Mamidakis Brothers Group as a senior executive, leading all of the Group’s Shipping, Bunkering and Aviation activities, through its respective companies: JetOil, JetTank and STYGA Compania Naviera. Mr. Prokopakis has over 20 years of professional experience in commercial leadership positions, over which he has attained deep knowledge and expertise mainly in the industry of shipping and bunkering. He is a Graduate of St. John’s University with an MBA in Executive Management and holds a BSc Degree in Business Management from the State University of New York.
Dear Stakeholders,
2021 was one of the most challenging years in recent history as we learned to live differently together with COVID and a record year for LNG carrier and LNG as fueled newbuilding orders.
Demand for LNG has continued to remain robust despite geopolitical issues and disruptions to the supply / demand balance in Europe that have caused a much publicized spike in gas prices, which have surged. Record natural gas prices led to a severe power crunch from Europe to India and China. Global LNG demand grew by 20 million tonnes per year in 2021 with Asia accounting for virtually all of this growth.
2021 was the year that saw decarbonisation become the talk of the shipping industry, 2022 may be a key yearto turn that talk into action. LNG plays a key role in commercial shipping, where it is increasingly seen as a key viable transitional fuel towards a carbon-free future — fuels for which have not been discovered or are not commercially viable yet.
With the adoption of the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) amendments to MARPOL Annex VI more shipowners could move towards renewing their fleets with LNG fueled vessels. It is vital that the shipping industry gets up to speed with EEXI/CII and that owners/charterers devise and invest in appropriate strategies to ensure they are prepared. While there is no known answer to zero-carbon emissions in our industry at this time, LNG, a fuel in transition and not only a transitional fuel is currently the best available solution.
The end goal of the shipping energy transition is to deliver net-zero emissions. Renewable synthetic LNG, chemically identical to fossil LNG, but carbon-neutral, has made big advances in recent months and could be the frontrunner towards the decarbonization pathway.
In 2022 we will continue our ongoing efforts to actualize our vison to become the Premier global independent LNG bunker supplier.
Sincerely,
Alexander Prokopakis
Chief Executive Officer