John Wobensmith was a banker well before becoming a shipowner.

But at this point, he has been on the owner’s side longer, a full 17 years since he left New York merchant bank AMA Capital Partners (then American Marine Advisors) to help spearhead Genco Shipping & Trading’s 2005 IPO in New York.

Wobensmith is a man on a mission, and that is to show that a dry bulk owner able to offer a dividend throughout the market cycle — even in those lean times that have sunk so many — will eventually prevail with a superior stock valuation.