The Greek owner has been a member of the council of the independent tanker owners association since 2002 and vice chairman since 2012.

He succeeds Graham Westgarth, who has stepped down after five years in the post.

TradeWinds newspaper reported on Thursday that Intertanko wanted a big name to fill the role.

It had been interested in having Tsakos take the step up to chairman, but it was not certain whether he would relish the job along with the responsibilities of running a publicly quoted company.

Pundits