Wednesday, December 5, 2012

New Home for The Shipping Man

A year since its original publication, The Shipping Man remains more popular than ever.

Likely as a result of our recent release of Dynasties of the Sea, there seems to be a resurgence in dialogue about our first book, chronicling the tale of fictional banker Robert Fairchild's venture into the high stakes world of shipping.  

The Shipping Man recently featured on the cultural site Glitterazi and was mentioned in the closing of Maritime Executive article "Can Private Equity Save Shipping?"

Perhaps readers are so fascinated with the stories of Dynasties' real-life shipping legends that they're picking up the fictional ones in droves?

Either way, it seems The Shipping Man needs a bigger home for reviews, press and updates. Visit us at http://shippingmanbooks.wordpress.com.

Thank you for your continued support of both books.

Friday, October 19, 2012

New Home for Dynasties

We are pleased to inform you that we have established a standalone blog for Dynasties of the Sea.

Please visit http://dynastiesofthesea.wordpress.com for news, reviews and press for this exciting forthcoming book!

Thank you.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Early Waves for Dynasties of the Sea

We are pleased to announce that Dynasties of the Sea will be released on November 12, 2012, just three days before Marine Money's Ship Finance Forum in New York commemorating the book's launch.

This is a very exciting time for us and we are happy to be celebrating the industry with you.

Following are some advanced words of praise for Dynasties of the Sea:

“Dynasties of the Sea is a must read for anyone. Lori Ann LaRocco’s captures the big ideas and backgrounds of these shipping titans who tend to stay out of the spotlight. This book is engaging and emphasizes shipping’s vital role in free trade and how important capitalism is to the growth of the global economy. Powerful!” – Donald Trump, Chairman & President, The Trump Organization

“Dynasties of the Sea captures the rich history and the key players of the shipping industry, bringing to public attention the critical role shippers have played in driving international trade and our global economy.” - Jay Timmons, CEO, National Association of Manufacturers

“Lori Ann LaRocco’s enlightening efforts highlighting the value Free Trade brings to all our lives…prove what Sir Walter Raleigh wrote four centuries ago ‘whosoever commands the sea commands the trade.’”- US Congressman Kevin Brady, Chairman, US House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Trade & Vice Chairman of Joint Economic Committee 

“Dynasties of the Sea offers a fascinating analysis of the shipping industry’s contribution to the economic expansion and the importance of global trade. A worthwhile read for both the novice and professional.” - Governor Rick Scott (R-FL)

“Lori Ann LaRocco has done it again, this time masterfully chronicling one of the world’s oldest and most respected businesses…no one has brought to life this story of maritime commerce…better than LaRocco. Dynasties of the Sea should be required reading…I recommend enthusiastically.” - Russell S. Reynolds, Jr., CEO, RSR Partners 

“To get a clear view on what makes the global economy tick, you should read Dynasties of the Sea. Lori Ann LaRocco’s profiles of the colorful captains of the global shipping industry provide a unique insight into why they’ve succeeded and what powers global growth.” - Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Economy.com

“China’s opening and the collapse of Soviet Communism have been among the two most important economic events of the last generation. The results have seen more than three billion new consumers welcomed into the global marketplace. Trade has expanded and the world is more and more economically interdependent. But there are key players, traders, shippers and entrepreneurs behind these trends, and their stories have been brilliantly brought to light by Dynasties of the Sea. This unique read is an important contribution in truly understanding the direction of today’s global economy.”- Jon Huntsman, Jr. Former Utah Governor and Former United States Ambassador to China

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Recollecting Dynasties of the Sea

In our most commemorative work yet, Marine Money is collaborating with CNBC senior talent producer and Thriving in the New Economy author Lori Ann LaRocco to publish the first book ever to capture the collective achievements of the shipping industry's greatest leaders.

Launching November 12, 2012, Dynasties of the Sea: The Shipowners and Financiers who Expanded the Era of Free Trade is the first book to examine one of the most powerful, and least known, forces in global trade and economic development: the world's shipping magnates:

Operating from strongholds from Monaco to Hong Kong, London to Athens, Singapore to Oslo, global shipowners and their financiers have changed the world we live in today - by transforming the globe into a single marketplace in which producers and consumers can transact. From transporting agricultural products from Brazil to Africa and the Middle East, to delivering Australian iron ore to China to carrying Middle East crude oil to Asia and the America to carrying almost every article of clothing you are wearing to every electronic device in the world, shipowners have enabled global economic development and helped raise the global standard of living. While ocean shipping remains one of the most important businesses in the world, it is also among the most volatile. Affected by imponderable factors like weather and political upheaval, shipowning cultures have maintained a commitment to the industry that has endured for centuries. The candid, detailed first person profiles that comprise Dynasties of the Sea provide critical insight into the psychology of little known shipping magnates - from how they view risk to what they see happening in the world tomorrow.

Dynasties of the Sea is written by Lori Ann LaRocco featuring a Preface by Marine Money President and author Matt McCleery. With a Foreword by Lawrence B. Lindsey, Former Director of the National Economic Council, and an Afterword with Martin Stopford, President, Clarksons Research Services, the book features discussions with:

Morten Arntzen, President & CEO, Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. 
Rajaish Bajpaee, CEO, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement
Robert Bugbee, President, Scorpio Tankers
Peter Evensen, President & CEO, Teekay Corporation 
Charles Fabrikant, Chairman, SEACOR Holdings Inc. 
Angeliki Frangou, Chairman & CEO, Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. 
John Fredriksen, Chairman, CEO & President, Frontline Ltd. 
Roberto Giorgi, President, V.Ships
Kristin H. Holth, Executive Vice President & General Manager, DnB Bank ASA
Philippe Louis-Dreyfus, President, Louis-Dreyfus Armateurs Group
Dagfinn Lunde, Head of Shipping & Member of the Board, DVB Bank SE 
Nicholas A. Pappadakis, CEO, A. G. Pappadakis & Co. and Chairman, Intercargo 
Michael A.J. Parker, Global Industry Head, Shipping & Logistics, Citi 
Wilbur L. Ross, Jr., Chairman & CEO, WL Ross & Co. LLC 
Andreas Sohmen-Pao, Group CEO, BW Group 
Jacob Stolt-Nielsen, Director, Stolt-Nielsen M.S. Ltd. 
Niels Stolt-Nielsen, CEO, Stolt-Nielsen M.S. Ltd.
James Tisch, President & CEO, Loews Corporation
Tor Olav Trøim, Vice President & Director, Seadrill 
Gerry Wang, CEO & Director, Seaspan Corporation
Robert Yuksel Yildirim, President, Yildirim Holding Inc.

We are excited about this project and sharing its latest developments with you.

Pre-order your copy today!

Friday, May 11, 2012

First Photos of our Room to Read School

Marine Money is proud to share the first photos we have received showing the development of the school we are sponsoring in Moddaikadai, Sri Lanka!

Side view of the school under construction
Our contact at Room to Read sent us these images this week, along with the message:
Construction in progress
Thank you for partnering with Room to Read and the local community to build the Moddaikadai Government Tamil Mixed School project in Sri Lanka. I am pleased to share these photos documenting the significant progress being made to complete your school. This is a true team effort engaging parents and local community members in the construction process to ensure their children have a new and improved learning environment. Daily progress is monitored by a local School Construction Committee with guidance from our local team to ensure that we are providing the students with a safely constructed school.

I look forward to sharing the Completion Report on the school including a photo of your dedication plaque in the coming months! I hope you can share this good news and our extreme gratitude with your colleagues. We are all so grateful for your partnership.

We, in turn, thank you for helping us to give back to the community in such a meaningful way. We look forward to sharing more of the school's progress with you!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Tales of a Shipping Man


Our President Matt McCleery recently published his debut novel, The Shipping Man – perhaps the first work of ship finance fiction ever written.

In his Acknowledgments section, Matt writes, “Over the past 25 years, it has been an honor and a privilege to report on, analyze and support the largely private business of capital formation for ships – and applaud the individuals who make the industry so fascinating and fun. The goal of this book is to capture the unique spirit of the shipping and ship finance business in a way that is, hopefully, both entertaining and educational.”

We are guided through the industry via protagonist Robert Fairchild, who decides to finally pursue his dream of owning a ship – “embarking on an odyssey into the most exclusive, glamorous and high stakes business in the world.”

To get your copy, visit Amazon.com, and read what others are saying about The Shipping Man
The Shipping Man eschews more traditional formulae of merchant shipping novels by concentrating on the dichotomy between money and ships, comparing and contrasting the shipping industry as we now find it, lolling in a slump after the longest boom in the sector since the late 18th Century, with the investment banking industry, not exactly everyone’s favorite walk of life since 2008.

And you have to say, the cynicism and misanthropy on display from the major characters in the book are pretty breathtaking.  You could call what goes on in the story, charting the roller-coaster ride of Robert Fairchild, Wall Street fund person, and his adventures in shipping, quite a study in business cultures.  The shipping characters are more simpatico than the investment bankers, but they are all meat eaters.  Shipping Chutzpa plays and ultimately wins against Banker Swagger.

The story of The Shipping Man is gripping enough and accessible enough for Joe Public, and this reviewer, no banker he, read the book in only two sittings.

The publishers are to be congratulated for having the imagination and moxy to give flight to Matthew McCleery’s novelistic fancy. The Shipping Man deserves to do well and to serve long on the short shelf of memorable shipping fiction. – Sam Ignarski, The Wavy Line

Author Matt McCleery has clearly set out to unveil the mysterious workings of the industry, showing how shipping markets work and how investments are funded. And as president of Marine Money International and managing director of ship-finance consultancy firm Blue Sea International, he certainly knows what he is talking about.” – Steve Matthews, Lloyd’s List

A perfect primer for those who want a peek into mysterious world of international shipping - Norwegian tycoons, Greek magnates, Chinese traders and German bankers. McCleery takes us on the comedic journey of a New York investor who finds himself ill-prepared for the realities of the world's second oldest profession. – Customer Review, Amazon.com

“For us who are in this industry it reminds us why we love it so much.” - Hans Laue, President, Jan Gisholt Shipping
We hope you’ll join the continually growing list of readers who have followed the journey of The Shipping Man. Happy reading!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Marine Money's 25th Anniversary Commemoration


We are happy to announce that 2012 marks the 25th Anniversary year of Marine Money International.

In celebration of this milestone, Marine Money will provide the means for the global organization Room to Read to build a six‐room schoolhouse in Moddaikadai, Sri Lanka. For a small company such as ours, it is a remarkable feat.

As you may remember, Marine Money has previously partnered with Room to Read, featuring its founder, John Wood, as keynote speaker at our 2011 Marine Money Week. Following Wood's keynote address, he joined our chairman Jim Lawrence at a closing of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.

Room to Read & Marine Money - NASDAQ
© 2011, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

This collaboration led to a dialogue among the Marine Money team about celebrating the company’s 25th anniversary by donating a portion of the proceeds from each of our 2012 Forums to Room to Read to build a school on behalf of Marine Money. In December 2011, members of our team met with John Wood once more and made this idea a reality.

When choosing a country in which a build a school, we wanted to tap into our roots and select a country where there is a maritime connection. Sri Lanka is a large tropical island just twenty miles off the southern tip of India. Sri Lanka, formerly a British colony known as Ceylon until the mid‐twentieth century, has a number of ports, Colombo, the capital, being its largest and amongst others, Trincomalee, the fifth largest natural harbor in the world. Sri Lanka’s breathtaking beauty belies a challenging history, including most recently, a 20 year civil war between the Tamil in the North and East and the Sinhalese majority. This difficult history has translated into suffering for many Sri Lankans.


Students in Sri Lanka take their writing assignments seriously. (© Room to Read)
Marine Money will sponsor the construction of a school in in the war-ravaged Northern Tamil region of the country, where the current need is greatest. This will be collaboration with the local community, which is challenged to contribute land, additional funds and effort of their own. Room to Read believes that involving the community in projects like these fosters a lifelong connection to the programs, and this philosophy has been integral to the organization’s global impact over the past ten years.

We will provide you with updates throughout the year regarding the development of our project. First construction will likely commence mid‐2012, and it is anticipated that with all being well, the project will be finished in the first quarter of 2013.

We are very proud and honored to be involved with such a renowned organization and endeavor. All attendees to our events are contributing to the building of our "school." Your support and encouragement over the years have helped make this possible. Thank you.

If you are interested in helping us support Room to Read further by donating for books, scholarships, reading rooms or even additional schools, visit our team website to learn more or to donate. No donation is ever too small!