GREEK CONTROLLED SHIPPING  

Αn information paper based on data provided to the GSCC by Lloyd’s Register of Shipping – Fairplay 

For the 27^th consecutive year the GSCC presents statistical data, in the form of 11 tables, attached hereto*, on Greek controlled ships over 1, 000 GT, registered under the Greek and other flags. The data has been provided by Lloyd’s Register – Fairplay. The following is a short analysis of the data, prepared by the Secretariat. 

Information from Table 1, compared with corresponding data from the previous year, shows that, during the year to March, 2014, the Greek controlled fleet has increased in terms of ship numbers and also in terms of DW and GT. According to the data, as of 26.3.2014, Greek interests controlled 3, 901 vessels of various categories, of 290, 847, 132 total DWT and 170, 984, 684 total GT. Compared with the previous year’s data, this represents an increase of 224 vessels, of 25, 510, 612 DWT and 14, 996, 300 GT. Total DWT is  the highest ever.  The figures include 378 vessels, of various categories, of 22, 492, 621 GT, on order from shipyards.

The fleet registered under the Greek flag has decreased slightly in terms of ship numbers, now comprising 819 ships, but has increased in terms of DWT and GT, now standing at 76, 107, 917 and 44, 190, 793 respectively, as against comprising 829 ships, of 73, 449, 021 DWT and 43, 316, 618 GT in 2013. It is to be hoped that the severe loss of confidence created by the uncertainty of the tax regime, will not result in heavy losses in the future.

TABLE 1: Flag Analysis of Ships owned by Greek Parent Companies

The Greek controlled fleet is registered under some 43 Flags.   A comparison of table 1: Flag Analysis of Ships owned by Greek Parent Companies, which gives the total number of ships, total DW and total GT, registered under each of the main registries used by Greek owners, with the corresponding table of last year, shows that there were no significant losses in terms of ships. On the contrary, the Marshall Islands gained 123 ships, Liberia 36, Malta 31, Cyprus 7 and Singapore 6.       The table below shows the biggest gains/losses in number of ships, GT and DW.

After the Greek flag, with 819 ships of 76, 107, 917 DW on its register, Liberia follows with 678 Greek owned ships of 49, 053, 034 DW, the Marshall Islands with 642 ships of 47, 574, 128 DW, Malta with 592 ships of 44, 687, 046 DW, Panama with 393 ships of 23, 334, 889DW, Cyprus with 242 ships of 16, 598, 126 DW and the Bahamas with 231 ships of 16, 496, 242 DW.

TABLE 2: Ship Type and Age Analysis – Greek Parent Companies

Comparing Table 2 with the corresponding table of the previous year there are increases, in all ship types, with the exception of cargo and passenger ships. The greatest increase is in Ore and Bulk carriers, reversing the trend of previous years (116), followed by Liquefied Gas tankers (43), Oil Tankers (32), Chemical and Product tankers (28) and Container ships (19).

TABLES 3 & 4: Ship Type and Age Analysis of the World Fleet and the Greek Fleet. It is very satisfactory that with the exception of the Pure Cargo, Other Cargo and Passenger ship types, the percentage of all other types of Greek controlled vessels, has increased relative to the corresponding world fleet type for the year 2013.  As against the previous year, the position is as follows:

Oil Tankers

• Percentage of number of ships 2014:            24.9
• Percentage of number of ships, 2013:           23.2
• Percentage of total DW 2014:                         24.0
• Percentage of total DW 2013:                         22.2

Chemical & Products Tankers

• Percentage of number of ships, 2014              8.4
• Percentage of number of   ships, 2013:           8.4
• Percentage of total DW 2014:                        13.9
• Percentage of total DW 2013                          13.5

Liquefied Gas Carriers

• Percentage of number of ships 2014:             10.9
• Percentage of number of   ships, 2013:            9.3
• Percentage of total DW 2014:                        10.6
• Percentage of total DW 2013:                         9.1

Ore & Bulk Carriers

• Percentage of number of ships 2014:             15.2
• Percentage of number of   ships, 2013:          15.1
• Percentage of total DW 2014:                         16.4
• Percentage of total DW 2013:                        16.4

Container Ships

• Percentage of number of ships 2014:                6.3
• Percentage of number of   ships, 2013:             6.0
• Percentage of total DW 2014:                           7.9
• Percentage of total DW 2013                            7.5

Cargo Ships

• Percentage of number of ships 2014:                1.8
• Percentage of number of   ships, 2013:             1.9
• Percentage of total DW 2014:                            1.6
• Percentage of total DW 2013                             1.7

Other Cargo Ships

• Percentage of number of ships 2014:            0.8
• Percentage of number of   ships, 2013:         0.8
• Percentage of total DW 2014:                        0.6
• Percentage of total DW 2013                        0.7

Passenger Ships

• Percentage of number of ships, 2014:             5.2
• Percentage of number of   ships, 2013:           5.7
• Percentage of total GT, 2014:                         4.2
• Percentage of total GT, 2013:                        3.1

The involvement of Greek owners is particularly significant in the ship categories carrying the majority of the world’s bulk cargo.

TABLES 5 & 6 : Average Age Analysis of Existing Ships owned by Greek Parent Companies and World Fleet

The average age of the Greek controlled fleet has decreased during the past year by 0.3 years, and is currently 2.5 years below the average age of the world fleet.  The average age of the Greek controlled fleet in term of ships now stands at 9.9 years as against 12.4 for the world fleet. It is 7.7 years in terms of GT and DW.   The average age of the existing Greek flag fleet has increased slightly, in terms of ships, GT and DW, standing at 11.5, 8.5, and 8.3 years respectively as against 11.3, 8 and 7.7 years in 2013.

TABLE 7: Class Analysis of Greek Parent Companies 

The following seven major IACS Classification Societies have the lion’s share of the Greek controlled fleet on the their books: Lloyd’s Register, with 824 ships (795 ships in 2013), ABS with  732 ships (710 ships in 2013), Nippon Kaiji Kyokai, (ClassNK) with 644 ships (567 ships in 2013), Bureau Veritas with 603 ships (536 in 2013), Det Norske Veritas (DNV) 468 with  ships (453 ships in 2013), Germanischer Lloyd (GL) with 291 ships (260 ships in 2013) and RINA 171 ships (175 ships in 2013).

* Attached Zip as per paragraph one – preamble: 1000GT