This week, the maritime industry is turning its attention to Athens, where the Posidonia trade fair is taking place. On the occasion of the industry event, analyst Clarksons has presented facts and figures on the Greek shipping industry.
In its analysis, Clarksons Research attests to the outstanding importance of the Greek market for international shipping.
Despite highly dynamic shipping markets that are often at the forefront of unprecedented global events, the strength of the Greek shipping community and its ability to successfully manage and capitalize on risks and opportunities remains impressive, comments Steve Gordon of Clarksons Research.
Number of large shipping companies growing
Greek shipping companies play a remarkable and crucial role in world shipping. They control 14% of the world’s tonnage by GT and 17% by deadweight tonnage and own more than a fifth of all tankers, bulk carriers and LNG carriers.
The traditional pillars of Greek shipping are the dry bulk and tanker markets. In the bulk business, Greek companies hold 21% of global capacity, putting them in second place behind China. They also have a 21% share of the tanker market, where they rank first. These markets, with their high volatility, extensive spot business and active asset trading, are ideally suited to the Greek business model.
The strategic expansion of activities in the gas sector over the past decade – in time for the strong growth in transportation volumes – has given Greek companies a market-leading 17% share of global LNG tonnage. Overall, they now control almost a quarter of energy-related shipping.
Diversification has also taken place in the container segment, albeit to a lesser extent. As liner shipping companies have increasingly expanded their own fleets, the Greek market share in this segment has fallen from 10% to 6% over the past ten years. Further investments were made in car carriers, offshore vessels and local ferry services, among others. Overall, however, Greek shipping continues to focus on bulk carriers, tankers and gas ships.
Today, Clarksons’ database covers more than 700 Greek shipping companies. Although the average shipping company still only owns eight ships, the number of large companies is growing steadily. Currently, 19 shipping companies have fleets of more than 50 ships; in 2010 there were only five.
The ten largest Greek shipping companies by tonnage are Angelicoussis Group, Dynacom, Cardiff Marine, Navios Holdings, Star Bulk Carriers, Alpha Tankers, Thenamaris, Tsakos Group, Marmaras Navigation and Minerva Marine. Capital Maritime and Dynacom have the largest order books. Current newbuilding investments in the Greek shipping industry, which total $75 billion, are increasingly concentrated on a smaller number of large companies.
Greeks are the biggest newbuilding investors
Many of the reasons for the success of the Greek shipping industry that Clarksons highlighted two years ago continue to apply: strong liquidity positions, low debt levels, a keen sense of market cycles, fast and flexible decision-making processes, maritime tradition, a successful generational transition and the size and quality of the Greek network of commercial and technical expertise.
Added to this are long-term customer relationships, flexibility and adaptability. While other maritime clusters benefit from their proximity to cargo flows, shipyard capacities, large liner shipping companies or financial centers, Greek shipping achieves its strength as a globally active “cross trader”. Greece’s own imports account for less than 1% of global trade, compared to around 25% in China.
It is also worth noting that Greek companies were both the largest investors in newbuildings and the most active sellers on the second-hand market in the first four months of 2026.
In addition to the focus on newbuildings, the Greek shipping industry is pursuing a pragmatic but consistent course towards decarbonization. The average age of the Greek fleet is now below the global average. Investments have also been made in alternative fuels and energy efficiency technologies, according to the Clarkson study.
You can find out more about this year’s Posidonia and the Greek market in the current issue of HANSA Greek Shipping:
