How Greek shipping plans to regain the top slot, writes Craig Jallal for Riviera news source.
China has surpassed Greece
China has surpassed Greece as the leading owner of global fleet tonnage, but Greek and Cypriot owners remain integral to the tanker fleet
Greece’s global standing in shipping was finally usurped in 2023 by the continued expansion of Chinese shipping interests. According to Clarksons Research Services (CRS) managing director, Stephen Gordon, writing in the mid-2023 issue of CRS’ World Fleet Register, China’s fleet value has edged ahead of Greece’s 249.0M gt, valued at US$163Bn; China’s fleet now stands at a staggering 249.2M gt, valued at US$180Bn.
Not only is China leading the way in terms of fleet ownership, but it also dominates the shipbuilding industry, accounting for approximately 40% of vessel production. Its cargo base advantage, combined with the strong performance of its finance sector, particularly in the leasing market, has contributed to its rise. Moreover, China’s active participation in the newbuild market and sales and purchase activities further solidify its position.
Despite China’s remarkable progress, the Greek fleet remains a pivotal force in international shipping, renowned as the ultimate “cross trader”.
“The Greek fleet remains a pivotal force in international shipping”
With an impressive 423M dwt and significant market shares in tankers and LNG, Greece remains strong. The Greek market, albeit less active in newbuildings recently, still boasts the largest sales and purchase transactions.
With a deep cluster of local expertise, the Greek shipping industry excels, with quick and flexible decision-making, capital strength and expertise in exploiting market cycle opportunities.
Although managing generational change in family-controlled businesses poses its challenges, the largest shipping companies in Greece, such as Angelicoussis, Dynacom and Navios, continue to thrive. These companies feature heavily in the tanker sector, with Dynacom the largest beneficial owner, followed by the Angeliccousis family interest, Maran Tankers, not far behind, according to CRS.
Top 10 tanker data
Despite the somewhat disappointing news that Greece has been toppled as a global shipping leader, in the tanker sector, the top 10 beneficial Greek and Cypriot owners remains very much as before, with Dynacom at the head of the flotilla, closely followed by four other Greek owners. John Fredriksen’s change of citizenship to a Cyprus passport marks Frontline as the largest Cypriot beneficial tanker owner.
In terms of tanker operators, Frontline moves into fourth place behind the big three Greek players. Looking at the largest technical managers of the Greek and Cyprus tanker fleet, there is a strong showing by V.Group as the only non-native manager on the list.
For historical reasons there is no trace of a Greek or Cypriot classification society in the top 10, but all the major classification societies have a presence in the fleet. Many Greek owners had or still have a close US connection – through banks and/or the stock exchanges, which may account for the presence of ABS at the head of the list. Most of the large classification societies have a local direct presence in the region.
“The effective collection and analysis of data is key to processing optimisation”
Despite the strong showing in the tanker sector, there are acknowledged weaknesses in Greek shipping, such as the seafarer shortage for Greek vessels. This is being tackled by the Greek government. Speaking at the 2023 13th Capital Link Greek Shipping Forum – The New Energy Landscape & Shipping, the Greek minister of maritime affairs and insular policy, Ioannis Plakiotakis, said: “In Greece, we are in a process of upgrading our maritime education system through a holistic approach from high-schools to marine academies and vocational training.” He added that there are also 11 actions being taken to boost the digital aspect of maritime training in Greece. Looking ahead, he said Greek shipping will emerge stronger from the decarbonisation/digitisation experience.
Cypriot interests
Cyprus also has a plan to tackle decarbonisation and digitisation. Columbia Group chief commercial officer and managing director of its Cyprus office, Andreas Hadjipetrou, speaking ahead of his appearance at the International Tanker Shipping & Trade Conference, Awards & Exhibition in Athens, said the digital transformation starts with data: “The effective collection and analysis of relevant data is key to processing optimisation and using digital performance optimisation platforms.”
He added: “This is fuelling the machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities of those platforms. There is no turning back or ignoring the impact of data.”
He warned: “To suggest data strategies do not give a competitive advantage to ship operations and maintenance is akin to suggesting the combustion engine affords no competitive advantage over sail.”
Did you subscribe to our daily newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Riviera
