If you've ever wondered why so many Greeks succeed in shipping, John Coustas has a plausible theory: "Greek shipping has nothing to do with the Greek state."
His firm Danaos Corporation is a case in point. Mr. Coustas took over the container-ship owner from his father in 1987 and has since transformed it from a three-vessel outfit into the third-largest company of its kind in the world, with a fleet of 55 ships and a market capitalization of $564.8 million. Danaos is incorporated in the Marshall Islands, a popular and stable jurisdiction for the globalized industry, and handles many of its operations through its German, Ukrainian, Russian and Tanzanian offices.
