Evgenia Daskalopoulou, founder and president of Greek dry bulk shipowner Almi Marine Management, has died, the Athens-based company announced this week. Almi said she passed away surrounded by her family, days after the company confirmed a fresh round of newbuilding orders in China.
Daskalopoulou, born in 1958, founded Almi Marine in 1992 and built it from a small operation running two 1970s-built handysize bulkers into a modern supramax and ultramax owner and manager. The company said operations would continue as normal, with the family and existing management team committed to carrying forward the vision and values she established over more than three decades at the helm.
From Family Business Roots to Shipowner
Daskalopoulou came from one of Greece’s best-known business families. She was the daughter of Aristides Daskalopoulos, whose family was closely associated with the development of Greek food group Delta, and sister of businessman Dimitris Daskalopoulos, giving her a background in Greek industry before she moved into shipowning.
Her decision to found and lead her own maritime business in 1992 placed her among a small group of women to hold senior ownership and management roles in a Greek shipping sector historically dominated by men. Over the following decades she steered Almi Marine’s transition from older handysize tonnage toward larger, more efficient geared bulk carriers, aligning the company with broader trends in the dry bulk market toward supramax and ultramax vessels.
Fleet and Recent Newbuilding Expansion
Almi Marine currently manages six bulkers totalling 365,140 dwt, comprising three supramaxes and three 64,000 dwt ultramaxes. Its operating fleet includes the 2024-built Mea Mare, Spike and Subra, alongside the older Altus, Anima and Sole, reflecting a recent push to renew tonnage with newer, larger ships.
The company had been actively expanding its newbuilding programme in the period leading up to Daskalopoulou’s death. In February it signed for two 64,000 dwt ultramaxes at Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering, known as NACKS, for delivery in the second quarter of 2029. Just days before her death, Almi added three further ultramax newbuildings at COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry’s Zhoushan yard for delivery in 2030, taking its reported contracting activity this year to five vessels.
Company Statement and Industry Response
In announcing the loss, Almi Marine said its founder shaped not only the company’s fleet but its character, emphasising integrity in business dealings and respect for staff both ashore and at sea. The company said many within the organisation had the privilege of learning from her directly and had benefited from the example she set.
Almi confirmed that commercial and operational activity would continue uninterrupted, with the Daskalopoulou family and the existing management team remaining committed to the company’s strategy, including its ongoing newbuilding programme in China. The statement extended condolences to her children and grandchildren, underscoring continuity of leadership at a company that has been among the more active Greek dry bulk owners in the current newbuilding cycle.
Why it matters
Daskalopoulou’s death marks the loss of one of the few women to found and lead a Greek shipowning company at a time when the sector’s ownership ranks remained overwhelmingly male, and her passing comes as Almi Marine is in the midst of an active fleet renewal programme in Chinese shipyards. The continuity signaled by the company, with existing management and family retaining control, matters for charterers, shipyards and lenders tracking one of several mid-sized Greek dry bulk owners contributing to record Greek newbuilding activity this year. Her career also illustrates the generational and demographic shifts underway within Greece’s historically dominant but traditionally male-led shipping industry.
Source: Splash247
