Study: Greece’s Shipping Fleet a Global Leader

Greece’s shipping fleet remains a global leader in terms of size and number of active companies and is expected to continue its strong performance into 2023, according to the latest report released by Petrofin Research.

According to Petrofin’s annual data, tonnage in 2021 increased by approximately 30 million tons dwt while more than 347 vessels were added to the existing fleet.

Last year, Greek-owned fleet held a total capacity of 373.41 million dwt and a 17.64 percent share of global tonnage.

Looking ahead, analysts expect China to gain ground fast. The Chinese fleet moved into second place for the first time with 244.55 million dwt and an 11.56 percent share of global tonnage followed in third place by Japan which accounted for 11.43 percent of the world’s transport capacity.

Petrofin analysts are forecasting Greece’s strong dynamic to continue in 2022 and 2023 across all areas of shipping activity including higher scrapping.

A slowdown is expected in second-hand activity and sales of tanker vessels. The report goes on to add that the mix between newbuilding, second-hand vessels and scrapping is expected to result in a marginally slower increase in the Greek fleet in 2022.

“As the effects of Covid-19 have begun to wane, it is the war in Ukraine that heavily impacted international shipping in 2022. The international sanctions have severely affected trade routes. The extremely high energy prices have resulted in inflation rates shooting up across the world and especially in Europe and the US,” said the Petrofin report.

Overall, analysts anticipate a modest growth in the Greek fleet for 2022 with an anticipated higher growth in 2023 and a continued modest rise in the fleet’s age.