The 3,901 vessels of over 1,000 gt controlled by Greek interests was a massive 291m dwt as we entered March and rising. In the same month of 2000, the 3,584 ships in Greek hands had a capacity of 151m dwt, then an all-time high.
At the beginning of March the fleet was up 224 ships and 25.5m dwt on 2013, the largest year-on-year rise since the newbuilding boom added 42.7m dwt and 474 ships to the fleet over 2007 / 2008 according to the data compiled by Lloyd’s Register-Fairplay for the London-based Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee (GSCC).
It is the GSCC's 27th consecutive annual "information paper" and the total includes 378 vessels of 33.6m dwt on order.
However, the Greek-flag flies fewer vessels at 819 vessels, though the trend towards larger ships sees the dwt of the home-flag up to 76m from 73.5m last year. “It is to be hoped the severe loss of confidence created by the uncertainty of the tax regime will not result in heavy losses in the future,” said the GSCC, referring to the government's decision just before last Christmas to pass into law a mandatory tripling of the tonnage tax paid by Greek shipping companies, after agreeing the tax would be voluntary.
Greek-flag ships of over 1,000 gt now account for 22% of the Greek-owned tonnage, ahead of Liberia with 17% and fast growing Marshall Islands with 16% after adding 123 vessels of 11m dwt in a year, passing Malta with a 15% share of Greek owned tonnage. Liberia and Malta registered growth while Panama remained steady with a 10% share, but Cyprus, continues to slip and now has just a 6% share.
The fleet’s age profile continues to improve and the GSCC says it is now 2.5 years below the world average of 12.5 years. In dwt terms it comes in at 7.7 years. However, the age of the Greek-flag fleet has slightly increased from 11.3 years to 11.5 years year-on-year. A third of the fleet, 1,334 vessels of 119.5m dwt, are under five years of age, while at the other end of the scale 266 ships of 4.3m dwt are over 25 years old. In other words, the larger the ship the younger it is.
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