Imperial Petroleum is a Greece-based international shipping company that owns and operates a fleet of tankers and drybulk carriers. The company was spun off from StealthGas in December 2021 and has grown from a four-vessel tanker company to 21 vessels in operation as of early 2026, with five more contracted for delivery. The tanker fleet includes seven MR product tankers carrying refined petroleum products, chemicals, and edible oils, plus two suezmax crude tankers. The drybulk fleet includes 12 vessels across handysize, supramax, kamsarmax, and post-panamax classes, carrying commodities like iron ore, coal, and grains. Imperial Petroleum charters vessels to energy companies, commodity producers, and traders under two structures: spot/voyage charters, where Imperial Petroleum bears fuel and port costs but captures rate spikes, and time charters, where the charterer bears voyage costs and revenue is more predictable. Fleet operations are fully outsourced to Stealth Maritime, an affiliate of the controlling Vafias family, which handles all commercial, technical, and administrative functions for a fixed daily fee per vessel plus a small percentage of freight revenue. A notable feature of Imperial Petroleum's model is its debt-free balance sheet — the company funds vessel acquisitions entirely from operating cash flow and equity raises rather than bank debt. Imperial Petroleum's growth strategy targets a fleet of 25–30 ships, sourcing vessels built exclusively in Japan or Korea, which the company believes are preferred by major charterers over Chinese-built tonnage.