The Greek-owned fleet is steadily growing. According to the annual report of the Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee (G.S.C.C.), prepared by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the Greek-controlled fleet increased in terms of number of vessels, DWT and GT.
As of March 4, 2024, Greek shipowners controlled a record number of 4,212 ships of various categories, with a total tonnage of 355,209,500 DWT and 208,252,588 GT. Compared to the figures of the previous year, this represents an increase of 102 vessels, 5,992,356 DWT and 3,905,226 GT. The figures do not include 373 vessels of various categories on order from shipyards, with a total tonnage of 33,143,130 DWT and 22,889,399 GT.
The order book figures represent a 50% increase in new orders, indicating greater interest among Greek shipowners in new technology vessels.
Another positive development is the fact that for the first time after several years the fleet registered under the Greek flag remained stable in terms of number of ships (496 ships). This reflects the positive effect of the recent reforms in the Greek registry. However, there was a slight decrease in terms of DWT and GT, with the figures now standing at 30,759,394 GT and 51,694,269 DWT, compared to 31,150,523 GT and 52,768,867 DWT in the previous year.
The Greek-owned fleet is registered under 32 flags. Meanwhile, Liberia acquired 79 ships, the Marshall Islands 34 ships, Cyprus 19 ships and Portugal 2 ships.
On the other hand, the remaining flags saw a slight decrease in the number of vessels registered, with the Malta flag recording a loss of 23 vessels and the Bahamas 8 vessels, while the flags of Panama, Bermuda and the Isle of Man recorded a loss of 2 vessels. As mentioned above, the number of ships registered under the Greek flag remained the same this year, although there was a slight decrease of 1,074,598 in DWT and 391,129 in GT.
In terms of DWT, the Greek flag remains in third place worldwide as it represents 14.5% of the total DWT of the Greek-owned fleet. Malta follows with 536 ships of 48,815,924 DWT, representing 13.7% of the total DWT of the Greek-owned fleet, followed by Panama with 327 vessels of 21,697,189 DWT, the Bahamas with 202 vessels of 17,549,992 DWT and Cyprus with 234 vessels of 16,812,743 DWT.
In addition, it should be noted that the total number of ships registered under EU flags amounts to 1,278, corresponding to 30.3% of the Greek fleet. This number has decreased slightly, compared to last year’s figure of 1,280 ships, which represented 31.1% of the Greek fleet.
