What came first? Was it a culture of poor corporate governance among shipping companies? Or was it owners wanting to list their companies on Wall Street?

Admittedly, it is something of a chicken-and-egg question since many owners would not have been willing to float their companies if they were going to be held to gold-plated standards.

Traditional shipowners navigated financial markets perfectly well while they remained privately-held, often with boards comprising long-standing directors, dominated by insiders with an economic interest in the company’s performance.

Repeated