It turns out that Greek shipowner George Economou’s disclosure of a major stake in New York-listed Performance Shipping was not exactly an expression of faith in the company’s management.

Only days after revealing the holding of about 1m shares in the aframax owner, Economou’s camp rifled off a scathing letter to the Performance board, accusing the company of violating regulations of both the Marshall Islands, where it is domiciled, and the Nasdaq exchange on which it trades.