Greece’s decade long reign as the largest ship owning nation has ended, with China surpassing them according to leading global industry information provider Clarksons Research.
The researchers estimate that China has reached 249.2 million gross tonnage, valued at $180 billion, which is 15.9 per cent of the market, passing Greece’s fleet of 249 million, valued at $163 billion.
In 2013, Greece overtook Japan and held first place until now – Japan now sit third, with China moving ahead of them in 2018.
This comes with China being more active in the new build market, almost doubling the Greek-owned book says Clarksons Research.
They have grown rapidly since 2015, due to imports of dry goods such as grain and coal and a high demand of containerised goods for export.
However, its 15.9 per cent of the market is low compared to its share in global imports (22 per cent) and container exports (33 per cent).
Greece remains the leader in tankers, owning 25 per cent of the market. Its share of liquified natural gas carriers rose from three per cent in 2013 to 21 per cent this year. China are eighth in this area, at half the size of Greece.
According to recent reports from the Union of Greek Shipowners, Greece continues to be the world’s foremost shipping nation, with Greek shipowners presiding over 21 per cent of the total global tonnage, commanding a fleet of 5,520 ships.
“(China) still sees room for further development to catch up, its tankers are half the size of Greek shipowners’, who have a huge number of large, private, independent shipowners,” Clarksons analyst Xing Yue said.
The shipping ambitions of China may take a hit however, with the International Maritime Organization wanting international shipping to reach net-zero emissions.
This means ships will have to comply to new controls by 2025.
