The merchant marine brought Greece foreign exchange inflows of no less than 140 billion euros in the 2000-10 decade, according to an annual report released by the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA).
The report suggests that foreign exchange inflows from shipping and exports were the only ones to have shown an increase in Greece’s current account balance. ECSA adds that Greek shipping accounts for 41.49 per cent of European shipping, with the Greek register featuring 2,096 ships exceeding 1,000 deadweight tons (dwt), for a total capacity of 43 million dwt.
The Greek-managed fleet includes 3,185 vessels over 1,000 dwt, amounting to a 14.33 per cent share of the global fleet. Greeks own 22.54 per cent of the global tanker fleet and 16.8 per cent of the global dry-bulk carrier fleet, not including ships on order. Petrofin Research data show that the number of Greek shipping companies owning more than 25 vessels increased from 31 in 2010 to 34 this year, while firms owning between 16 and 24 ships also increased from 33 to 37 within a year. Source: Kathimerini