Management & Board
Harry N. Vafias – Non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Harry N. Vafias is the Non-executive Chairman of the Board of our company. He has also been Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer and President of Imperial Petroleum Inc., which is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market, since its inception in May 2021 and the President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of StealthGas Inc., which is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, since its inception in December 2004 and its Chief Financial Officer since January 2014. Mr. Vafias has been actively involved in the drybulk, tanker and gas shipping industry since 1999. Mr. Vafias worked at Seascope, a leading ship brokering firm specializing in sale and purchase of vessels and chartering of oil tankers. Mr. Vafias also worked at Braemar, a leading ship brokering firm, where he gained extensive experience in tanker and dry cargo chartering. Seascope and Braemar merged in 2001 to form Braemar Seascope Group plc, a public company quoted on the London Stock Exchange and one of the world’s largest ship brokering and shipping service groups. From 2000 until 2004, he worked at Stealth Maritime and Brave Maritime, companies providing comprehensive ship management services, where Mr. Vafias headed the operations and chartering departments of Brave Maritime and served as manager for the sale and purchase departments of both Brave Maritime and Brave Maritime. Mr. Vafias graduated from City University Business School in the City of London in 1999 with a B.A. in Management Science and from Metropolitan University in 2000 with a Masters degree in Shipping, Trade and Transport.
Dr. Diamantis Andriotis – Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Diamantis Andriotis is the Chief Executive Officer, President and a member of the Board of Directors of our company since its inception in July 2022. Since 2008, Dr. Andriotis has worked for Stealth Maritime Corporation SA, where he holds the position of the Chief Executive Officer, and since 2014 he has been the Chief Technical Officer of StealthGas Inc. He has actively participated in the design of several new ships towards improved efficiency, reduced environmental footprint and maximizing operability as well as compliance with chartering requirements. Working for Vafias family companies he has contributed to the expansion of the fleet having gained extensive experience in every aspect of ship management. Dr. Andriotis studied Mechanical Engineering at City University, London. His Doctorate degree, under sponsorship by the world’s largest marine engine manufacturer, MAN B&W, involved experimental and numerical investigations of Diesel Engine fuel systems. During and after his PhD he performed research at City University for various companies including Caterpillar (USA) and participated to various projects like the DTi project for the design of radically low emission diesel fuels. Dr. Andriotis is an active member of the committees of the leading classification societies as well as other shipping industry organizations.
George Xiradakis – Non-executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee
George Xiradakis is a non-executive member of our Board of Directors and the Chairman of the Audit Committee of our company. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Imperial Petroleum since 2021. Mr. Xiradakis is the founder and Managing Director of XRTC Business Consultants Ltd. (“XRTC”) (January 1999). The company was established in order to represent financial institutions in the Greek territory and initially acted as the exclusive Shipping Representative of Credit Lyonnais Group in Greece. XRTC expanded its scope as Financial and Advisor Consultant for Greek Shipping, offering its services in national and International Institutions and Organizations. From February 2005 to 2008, XRTC acted as shipping finance consultant of the French banking group NATIXIS. He is also the General Secretary of the Association of Banking and Financial Executives of Hellenic Shipping, Vice President of China Hellenic Chamber (HCCI), Vice President (International and Financial Relations) of the China-Greece Association. He served as the President of the International Propeller Club, Port of Piraeus from 2013 to 2019 and he acted as a VP of the International Propeller Club of the United States. He is now Emeritus President of International Propeller Club, Port of Piraeus, Emeritus Member of The Piraeus Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Member of the Mediterranean Committee of China Classification Society, Piraeus Marine Club, Hellenic Maritime Museum and Hellas Liberty Floating Museum. He has also been a Board Member of other US listed shipping companies.
John Kostoyannis – Non-executive Director
John Kostoyannis is a non-executive member of our Board of Directors. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Imperial Petroleum since 2021 and StealthGas since 2010. Mr. Kostoyannis is a Managing Director at Allied Shipbroking Inc., a leading shipbroking house in Greece, providing Sale and Purchase and Chartering services in the shipping industry. Before joining Allied Shipbroking, from 1991 until September 2001, Mr. Kostoyannis worked in several prominent shipbroking houses in London and Piraeus. He is a member of the Hellenic Shipbrokers Association. Mr. Kostoyannis graduated from the City of London Polytechnic in 1988 where he studied Shipping and Economics.
Nina Pyndiah – Chief Financial Officer
Nina Pyndiah is our Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Pyndiah is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), with over 30 years’ experience in private, public and industry practices in London and Athens. Her areas of expertise include Internal Audit, External Audit, Financial Controller, Internal Controls over Financial Reporting (ICFR), Accounting and Investigations. She has been the Internal Auditor of StealthGas Inc. since 2006. Ms. Pyndiah is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors.