Hermes Marine Management of Greece is suing Affinity (Shipping), blaming the shipbroker for the collapse of a VLCC purchase in 2019.
Hermes principal Ghassan Ghandour and Affinity managing partner Richard Fulford-Smith have worked together since the 1970s and have become close on a personal level.
But their relationship soured after a failed bid by Hermes, an Athens shipowner, to purchase the 306,500-dwt Phoenix Vanguard (built 2007) from Singapore’s Phoenix Tankers in June 2019.
