Themis Papadopoulos and Dieter Rohdenburg on their shared vision for the shipping industry

Interorient Shipmanagement and Intership Navigation have merged to create InterMaritime Shipmanagement.

Here, Themis Papadopoulos, pictured above on the left, and Dieter Rohdenburg, pictured above on the right, the respective CEOs of the two companies, discuss the reasons behind the move amid the sweeping effects of the decarbonisation agenda.

In the distance beyond Themis Papadopoulos' office windows, the Limassol port is in full motion with the usual choreography of cranes, containers and deadlines being played out under a sulky winter sky. With the nonchalance of someone who's been through it all before, the CEO of Interorient Shipmanagement is explaining how, to make it in the business today, you need to be fast. “In the era of digitalisation and decarbonisation, and with regulations like the ETS and the upcoming FuelEU,” he says, “constant calculations and adaptations are required. The scope of what a ship manager offers needs to grow, not just in scale but also in expertise."

Next to him, listening thoughtfully is Dieter Rohdenburg. The last time I spoke to him, in August, his acquisition of Internship Navigation in a management buyout was barely dry and he had deftly dodged any mention of merging with Papadopoulos’ company. “We had the same vision,” he says. “We wanted to grow the fleet but lacked the muscle to do it organically. The bigger you are, the more visibility you have to larger shipowners, making you more attractive to potential customers.” The merged entity will now operate as InterMaritime Shipmanagement.

The impact of decarbonising

Decarbonising the shipping industry comes with a price tag that would make even the most experienced CFO blanch – potentially exceeding hundreds of billions annually, according to UBS analysts. In this high-stakes world, being small is less than ideal.

The upcoming FuelEU Maritime Regulation offers some breathing space with its carbon credits pooling system, which will enable ships exceeding greenhouse gas intensity targets to share their surplus compliances with those that have not yet met those targets, potentially leading to fewer penalties. But there’s a catch: the system demands rigorous monitoring, reporting, and verification – bureaucratic hurdles that could swamp smaller operators.

Themis Papadopoulos says, “The ever-increasing regulatory regime and the decarbonisation agenda have created a complex environment that disadvantages smaller fleets, whether in pooling carbon credits or adopting new technologies.” Indeed, merging to achieve economies of scale has been the undeniable driver behind the broader trend of consolidation in the industry. For the two new partners, though, growth has its limits.

Neither Papadopoulos nor Rohdenburg is keen to pin down an exact target for their fleet size, with 170 given as a rough estimate, as both know that, somewhere along the way, getting too big risks eroding the personal touch that has long been their calling card. “That’s something we never want to sacrifice. We’ll carefully monitor growth to ensure that we stay true to who we are,” Papadopoulos stresses. Rohdenburg adds, “We’ve had owners come to us specifically because, with larger managers, they felt that they were just a number.”

The merged fleets of Intership and Interorient also bring complementary strengths – LPG carriers, bulk carriers, container ships, multipurpose vessels, and other specialised ships – positioning InterMaritime well to serve a broad swathe of the market. InterMaritime’s geographical reach will now span offices in the US, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Cyprus, Singapore and the Philippines, with additional representation in Japan and Australia, increasing visibility and accessibility to clients. It will also enable the ship manager to navigate the supply chain disruptions that have plagued the industry since COVID-19, exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions in the Middle East since, with support staff stationed globally, it will be in a position to respond swiftly to challenges. “This,” says Rohdenburg, “is exactly where ship managers can add value to shipowners.”

Shared experience of the industry

Rohdenburg and Papadopoulos have crossed paths countless times in Cyprus’ tight-knit yet substantial maritime cluster – the third largest fleet in Europe, the eleventh globally -- collaborating on boards in organisations like the Cyprus Shipping Chamber and the North Standard P&I Club. Between them, they’ve spent decades navigating an industry as volatile as the sea itself – a world where no two days are alike. Both have steered companies that began as family-owned, ship-owning businesses, collectively overseeing more than 200 newbuilds and eventually expanding into ship management.

Papadopoulos represents the second generation of leadership at Interorient, joining in 1997 and taking the helm in 2004. Rohdenburg came from Germany to Cyprus in 1988 to join Internship, where he rose to become CEO in 2010. This shared history has made the otherwise complex exercise of merging two companies less fraught. Rohdenburg admits, nonetheless, that “In any merger you will have challenges. You're putting together people that haven't worked in the same team before, you're emerging systems, you're merging everything. So, these are inevitable challenges, whether it's merging two shipping companies, two tech companies or any others.”

Enforcing global emission reduction measures

In November 2024, the COP 29 conference took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, where the International Maritime Organization (IMO) delegation unveiled, among others, its midterm greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction measures. They include a combination of technical standards for marine fuels with pricing mechanisms, such as levies and rebates, to nudge the industry toward low-to-zero carbon fuels. Compared to the EU, where ships are already engaging with the EU Emissions Trading System, the pace of regulatory development within the IMO appears to be slower.

The lack of strong and enforceable global standards complicates compliance significantly. Back in his office, Papadopoulos addresses the proverbial elephant in the room, “We don’t like having different schemes across regions. For many shipowners, grappling with these complexities is an unwelcome burden.” Papadopoulos is blunt about the fact that, unless the IMO is able to agree to a global framework within a reasonable time, it appears inevitable that other countries and regions will develop their own carbon pricing schemes. So, what is the holdup? The IMO, with its 176-member-state democracy, operates less like a streamlined regulator and more like a maritime United Nations. Each country gets a vote, regardless of its shipping footprint. Painting a picture of political theatre, Papadopoulos says, “A lot of countries there don’t have a particular shipping presence but are fighting for their rights. The smaller island nations are all very afraid that the increased costs that are likely to come with dealing with the effects of decarbonisation are going to affect them disproportionately – and I can’t say I blame them. So, countries will have to compromise and reach some agreement where no one gets everything they want, but everybody gets something.”

Rohdenburg, content to let Papadopoulos – Vice-Chairman of the International Shipping Chamber – take the lead on these policy issues, nods in agreement before chiming in. “It’s a mini–United Nations dealing with maritime affairs – that’s what it is.”

While much of the decarbonisation debate swirls around the race to develop greener fuels, there’s no clear frontrunner, which creates a logistical nightmare. How does one future-proof against the unknown? Dieter Rohdenburg offers a far more pragmatic approach: focus on solutions that work now. He explains that most shipowners are currently concentrating their efforts on technical improvements, such as retrofits, and operational efficiencies like trim optimisation and just-in-time arrivals.

Nonetheless, this uncertainty underscores the growing importance of ship managers in providing support, advice and expertise to their clients. “There are a few things we are bringing into ‘the marriage’, which are already making it a broader service offering portfolio but, in line with the merger, we have also created new functions that we didn’t have before. We now have a sustainability officer, for example, who will focus on helping owner clients develop their path to decarbonisation,” he reveals.

Greener fuels, meanwhile, find themselves trapped in a classic Catch-22 situation, with fuel suppliers waiting for clear market signals while shipowners hold out for lower prices. Yet, as Papadopoulos points out, the stalemate is more tangled that it looks, as the value chain comprises numerous stakeholders – suppliers, engine manufactures, shipbuilders, and so on – all of whom must come together. And even if they do synchronise, shipping is not alone needing clean fuels. “This is something we are a little bit lost in,” he says. “We consume 5% or maybe even less, of the total global consumption of carbon-based fuels. You can’t expect an industry that consumes less than 5% to dictate which fuels are going to be available. What we can see clearly is that there’s going to be limited availability over the next 10 or maybe 20 years.”

A shortage of shipping talent

Another pressing issue is the industry’s talent shortage, compounded by the average age of seafarers, which, according to various reports, tips on the wrong side of 30. While this isn’t a new conversation – it’s a challenge across many sectors – Rohdenburg wryly observes, “90,000 ships are still sailing.”

Shipping has worked hard to modernise, improving seafarers’ living conditions with modern amenities like internet access, which helps them stay connected with families even on the most distant ocean. However, attracting young talent remains an uphill battle and the required skillset is evolving as quickly as the onboard equipment the skills required of seafarers is also changing. As automation sweeps through, tomorrow’s seafarers will need more than sea legs – they’ll need a command of digital technologies. Rohdenburg also emphasises that tomorrow’s workforce will likely come from the East rather than the West. To stay ahead, InterMaritime will invest heavily in crew training, particularly in the Philippines where Intership already operates its own training centre. “The training centre is continuously being upgraded and modernised, and we plan to keep it that way. Planned upgrades include additional equipment for training in the operation of ships using modern fuels and the electrification of shipboard equipment,” he says.

A new structure

The foyer leading to Themis Papadopoulos’ office at Interorient’s imposing headquarters hints at a company in transition. Signs of reorganisation are everywhere – desks being shuffled, wooden planks against the wall – and with good reason. By next year, the entire merged entity and all 190 of its onshore employees will call this space home.

The new c-suite is already set: Dieter Rohdenburg will steer the ship as CEO, Michael Elwert will manage the operations as COO, Nicos Paneras will take charge of the books as Group CFO and Virginia Mastoroudes will round out the leadership team. Papadopoulos, as a 50% shareholder, will sit on the Board. It’s an arrangement that looks solid but, despite positive feedback, both leaders are keeping their expectations tempered. “We're only at the start of this journey,” Papadopoulos notes. “It's a process that we have to manage carefully and it will take some time. What we've done so far is make sure that the clients are not disrupted. There's perfect continuity for them and we expect that, sometime in the first year of operation, we will start to see the benefits of the merged entity.” For his part, Dieter Rohdenburg adds, “There are ambitions, of course, and we’ve talked about size and where we are looking to go. But, most importantly, we want to be able to deliver the same quality of service to our clients that we are both known for.”

(Original photo by Giorgos Charal.)

This interview first appeared in the December edition of GOLD magazine. Click here to view it.