Greeks claim record

07.04.2015

Another year, another record as far as the size of the Greek-controlled merchant fleet goes.

It has now swelled to 314.5m dwt, 8\% higher than last year.


In the year to 10 March Greek interests controlled 4,057 ships of all types over 1,000 gt, an increase of 156 vessels over 2014. These included 374 ships of 38m dwt on order.


Annual statistics from Lloyd’s Register-Fairplay, complied on behalf of the London-based Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee (GSCC), showed that with the exception of chemical and products tankers and passenger ships all other main types of vessels increased relative to the corresponding world fleet type.


The largest growth in terms of ship numbers came in the ore/bulk carriers where 104 ships of 9.7m dwt were added despite the dire freight market for dry bulk.


Greek owners now control 1,856 bulkers of which 148 are on order.


While the increase in the number of tankers was fewer, at 77, the tonnage swooped up by 13.6m dwt in what looks like clever forethought by owners who are now seeing improvement in the sector’s performance.


The total number of tankers controlled now stands at 709, of which 80 are on order.


Chemical and products carriers slipped by 28 vessels and 1.6m dwt.


Gas carriers, which have become a growing sector in Greek ownership, increased by 13 units to 196, of which 68 are on order.


Containerships that in recent years had shown a spurt were less active this year, with an increase of just eight ships, bringing the total Greek-controlled pure container fleet to 347 vessels, of which 39 are on order.


After several years where the Greek-flag fleet suffered losses due to shipowner unease about administrative changes, the figures this year showed that 839 vessels of 80.5m dwt are under domestic colours, up 20 ships and 4.4m dwt from last year.


This represents over 25 per cent of total dwt of the Greek-owned fleet, the GSCC noted.


The biggest gains were made by the Marshall Islands that gained 55 ships of 7.2m dwt and the Liberian register with 61 ships and a shade under 5m dwt.


The average age of the Greek controlled fleet in terms of ships increased fractionally to 10 years, but nevertheless continues to be 2.5 years below the average age of the world fleet.


The data showed that Greek owners now control 15.9\% of the world fleet in terms of deadweight.


In the tanker sector it holds a strong 26.6\% share, up from 24\% last year, while their share of the world bulker fleet stands at 16.9\%, a small increase from last year’s 16.4\%.


source:www.tradewindsnews.com

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