An independent shipbroking company.

Velian's story begins in Monte di Procida, a small seafaring community overlooking the Gulf of Naples.

For generations, the village lived close to the sea. Seafarers, masters and shipowners left from there to trade across the region, building businesses that were personal, practical and deeply rooted in relationships. Shipping was not an abstract industry. It was part of everyday life.

It was in that environment that the idea behind Velian first took shape.

The company began as a family brokerage serving local owners and vessels trading mainly within regional markets. The business was direct from the beginning. Relationships were personal, information moved quickly, and the broker's value was measured by something very simple: knowing the market, knowing the people and being able to get things done.

As those relationships grew, so did the business.

The vessels became larger. The trades became broader. Velian began working beyond its original local network and developed relationships with shipowners, operators and cargo interests across the Mediterranean and wider European markets.

What had started around a close community of local owners gradually became an international brokerage activity.

The character of the business, however, remained largely unchanged.

Velian continued to work through direct relationships, personal involvement and a low-profile approach to the market. The company was never built around public visibility or the need to advertise every transaction. Its reputation developed through the work itself and through the clients who continued to return.

A significant new chapter began in 2017, when Velian established its Sale & Purchase desk in Hamburg under Manthos Kourtis.

Hamburg placed the firm inside one of Europe's most important shipping centres and gave the S&P business a broader international platform. From there, the desk rapidly expanded its direct network of owners, buyers and commercial counterparties across Europe, the Mediterranean and global shipping markets.

The Hamburg operation developed across a wide range of commercial tonnage, from bulk carriers and tankers to containerships, chemical tankers, MPP, RoRo, specialised vessels and general cargo ships.

At the same time, one market became particularly important to Velian.

Shortsea general cargo.

Years of continuous activity created unusually deep relationships across a fragmented owner and buyer universe, giving the firm specialist knowledge of a market where access and personal relationships can matter as much as public market visibility.

That combination has become an important part of Velian today: broad commercial capability, together with genuine specialist depth where the firm knows the market exceptionally well.

Today, Velian operates through Hamburg and Naples across Sale & Purchase, Dry Cargo Chartering, Newbuilding, Valuations and Recycling.

The geography has expanded significantly from the company's beginnings in Monte di Procida. The vessels are larger, the counterparties more international and the transactions more complex.

The underlying way of working has not changed very much.

Clients still deal directly with the brokers handling their business. Relationships remain personal. Market knowledge remains practical. Discretion remains part of the process rather than part of the marketing.

And when a commercial situation requires a clear position, Velian takes one.

That continuity, from a small maritime community outside Naples to an international shipbroking business operating through Hamburg and Naples, is perhaps the simplest way to explain what Velian is today.