Guess who’s invited to dinner: Industry leaders reveal their shipping heroes

Guess who’s invited to dinner: Industry leaders reveal their shipping heroes
Eric Priante Martin and TradeWinds staff 5 January 2026 https://www.tradewindsnews.com/special-reports/guess-who-s-invited-to-di...

An AI-generated illustration imagines a dinner party with shipping luminaries, as well as US President Donald Trump, whom many participants wanted to invite to the table.
Photo: ChatGPT
We also asked industry leaders to invite a successful risk-taker to their New Year’s table

What if you could start 2026 with a dinner party where your shipping heroes and industry luminaries could guide you through the year ahead?

We asked 30 shipping leaders to imagine just that.

We tasked them with preparing an invitee list for a New Year dinner party with guests, both living or dead, who could advise them on navigating turbulent times.

They we to include their shipping hero, as well as an industry leader who took a big risk that paid off.

The most frequently invited dinner guest is the late Aristotle Onassis, whose knack for navigating shifting geopolitical power to accomplish shipping successes seems like it would come in handy 50 years after his death.

Plus, today’s shipping leaders are certain he would guide the conversation in an entertaining direction.

Other leading invitees included Hong Kong shipowner YK Pao, maritime economist Martin Stopford, US President Donald Trump, BW Group chief executive Andreas Sohmen-Pao and John Fredriksen.