By L. Karageorgos
Greek shipowners and shipping companies came in first among buyers of second-hand vessels over the recent period, with German-controlled interests being the most prominent sellers.
According to figures regarding the second-hand market worldwide in the first four months of 2018 show that the German shipping sector, for instance, continues to be plagued by the crisis and a lack of financing by German credit institutions.
The Greek side, if judged by the recent “shopping spree”, appears more robust in dealing with the shipping crisis.
Specifically, over the Jan-Apr 2018 period, Greek shipping interests acquired 88 vessels with a total outlay of 972.6 million USD. Conversely, Greek shipping interests sold off 42 vessels, with transactions valued at 724.6 million USD.
German shipping interests sold off 77 vessels (655.5 million USD) and purchased 49 second-hand ships in the same period (296.2 million USD).
According to Allied Shipbroking, a total of 517 second-hand vessels changed hands over the same period, with transactions valued at 5.6 billion USD.
Greek shipping accounted for 17.02 percent of the total number of second-hand vessels changing hands, and 17.34 percent of allocated capital.
