The dinner's origin dates back to the crisis that has shadowed the shipping markets since the fall of Lehman Brothers. Until the end of 2008, the shipping community was active, with Bureau Veritas conducting annual committee meetings and various social events. However, all of this came to an abrupt end. Nevertheless, the strong relationship between the two companies led their managing directors, Cafer Tekkan and Lorenz Weinstabl, to initiate a semi-annual dinner in 2014, where management and related staff members could come together.
At our sixth event, hosted again at Turgut Vidanli's Çarşı Fish restaurant in Beşiktaş, two main topics were discussed. Firstly, the experience of building ships in Turkey after years of a newbuilding crisis, which highlighted the concerning fact that shipyards and their subservicing industry have lost most of their expertise, know-how, and personnel in ship construction. Secondly, the alarming decline of Turkish tanker owners, with a third of them having exited the market in the past six years, and the majority of the remaining two-thirds struggling with significant debts and organizational issues. It is expected that in two years' time, more than half of Turkish tanker owners will have left the market.
Pictured from left to right (front to back):
