As many world industries are changing quickly, the global shipping industry has learned to adjust and accommodate market needs. One of the leaders at the forefront of the industry, Brian Ladin, is aiming to help shipping move forward in an environmentally friendly way.
Ladin is the CEO of Delos Shipping. Delos Shipping is a ship finance and leasing platform set up by Ladin in 2008. Currently, Delos Shipping is investing via a vehicle called Marine Finance Company LLC, a finance company advised by Delos Shipping, is currently investing in marine assets under long term charter or lease.
Ladin hails from Houston, Texas and is a graduate of Tulane University. As a Chartered Financial Analyst, Brian grew Delos Shipping from no ships to 58 vessels between the years 2010 and 2016. In 2016 Delos sold most of its assets, re-focusing the company on leasing opportunities.
Ladin explains some of his journey and some of how see sees the future of ship leasing:
“I started my business in 2008, and built a portfolio of 58 vessels that was sold to a publicly listed company in 2016. I have been involved in the shipping industry since 2008… ship leasing will be very focused on the next generation of environmentally friendly vessels for the next 10-20 years. Owners and lessors will be focused on dual fuel vessels, vessels that are energy efficient and burn low carbon footprint fuels.”
Delos Shipping’s website explains their mission:
“Delos Shipping provides end users of shipping assets with well-priced capital via leases, bareboat charters or time charters, empowering them to leverage their capital base and to expand their business by leveraging our ample balance sheet and industry knowledge. As a result, Delos gets stakeholders superior returns by providing this broad and steady platform, performing extensive due diligence for them, and studying shipping market cycles and the global economy to execute against projected returns.
More than anything, Delos Shipping has been committed to the shipping industry since 2007, and offers investors unrivaled access, confident strategy and strong guidance – combined to create an ocean of safe, high quality investment experiences.”
One of Brian’s passions is helping build a culture of sustainability in his work. As he explains in a recent article, “While ocean shipping has been considered polluting, the overall carbon impact of shipping by water is significantly lower than shipping by air or by truck. The per-ton carbon cost of ocean shipping is lower than that of air transport or truck transport by land. While ocean shipping produces only 3 grams of carbon emissions per ton-kilogram, air freight produces 435 grams. This means that ocean shipping is more environmentally friendly than air shipping overall.
Even though ocean shipping has the lowest carbon emissions of any form of transport, shipping interests are still attempting to reduce their impact on the environment and create a more sustainable industry. It makes economic sense because fuel is the greatest expense for shipping companies, and anything that reduces costs while staying efficient is a worthy change.”
Ladin is also specifically passionate about helping to reduce carbon emissions. He explains in another article,
“For the amount of carbon emissions that a company’s shipping produces, that company will invest financial resources (credits) in projects that reduce an equal amount of greenhouse gases, thus offsetting those carbon emissions,” says Ladin. “In effect, Delos Shipping’s (and other companies) efforts to purchase carbon offset credits essentially cancels out the company’s carbon emissions. The end result is that the company becomes carbon neutral.”