The Greek maritime cluster is thriving, despite the dire fiscal conditions in Greece and the extreme low freight rates in the international markets. The article summarizes some of the key facts and highlights some aspects of the expected future growth.

1. INTERNATIONAL MARITIME JOURNAL
INTERNATIONAL MARITIME JOURNAL
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INTERNATIONAL MARITIME JOURNAL 06 | 2016
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Juni 2016 | 153. Jahrgang
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2. Schifffahrt | Shipping
22 HANSA International Maritime Journal – 153. Jahrgang – 2016 – Nr. 6
Greek shipping –
challenges ahead!
Greek shipping enjoys a relatively stable and
leading position yet with some clouds in the sky.
In the areas of technology, services, education
and financing efforts have to be made to stay
competitive in the future
Remarkably yet reasonably the evolu-
tion and growth of the Greek mari-
time sector is not linked with the course of
the Greek national economy. The deep-sea
segment, i.e. the fleet under ownership and
management of Greek interests, is steadily
growing and improving and the contribu-
tion of the ocean-going ships in the nation-
al economy is undisputed. Apart from this
well explored segment, Greece has the po-
tential to expand further in various mari-
time segments that could offer substantial
differentiation of offered services, thus
making the Greek shipping cluster more
sustainable and profit-making. Neverthe-
less any positive development in the future
depends at large on the policy makers in
Piraeus.
Despite the weak freight markets
and global economy, the Hellen-
ic Registry retains its dynamic course.
Briefly, 1,484 ships of 78 mill. DWT are
registered in Greece; this implies that the
Greek fleet corresponds to circa 24.5% in
terms of DWT and 11.1% in terms of num-
ber of ships of the EU-28 fleet. Notably, the
fleet has grown by almost 2% in terms of
DWT in the last 5 years (2011-2015) while
at the same time a 3% decline in terms of
numbers was reported. A look at the aver-
age age figures reveals a rather young fleet
of big vessels; an average age of 12.3 years is
estimated. Comparing the statistics of the
registry with the ones of EU-28 and of the
world fleet, it can be effortlessly concluded
that the Greek registry enjoys a rather sta-
ble market-share in the last years. The bulk-
er fleet has gained an impressive 163 ves-
sels, its age is down to 8.6 years, and its
tonnage is circa 19.5 mill. DWT, while the
tank-
er fleet
is more or
less stable. In
addition, the con-
tainership fleet has
gained an extraor-
dinary 2.9 mill. DWT,
while the LNG fleet has
expanded notably with the
addition of more than 20 vessels.
Generally, Greek shipping is go-
ing through a period of evident growth
in terms of tonnage under control, and
of consolidation in the number of com-
Photo:ThomasWägener
393 ships of 39 mill. DWT for Greeks are currently in the orderbook.
Roughly 61% of them are »wet«, i.e. tankships, LNG-carriers etc.

3. Schifffahrt | Shipping
HANSA International Maritime Journal – 153. Jahrgang – 2016 – Nr. 6 23
panies, with almost 650 active enterpris-
es. The above trends of consolidation are
expected to continue over the next years.
Nevertheless the picture is not complete
unless including the reported statistics of
beneficiary owners and of the orderbook.
Greek interests control 15-16% of the glob-
al fleet in terms of DWT (8% in terms of
numbers) as beneficiary owners. Moreo-
ver, 393 ships of 39 mill. DWT are current-
ly in the orderbook. Roughly 61% of them
are »wet«, i.e. tankships, LNG-carriers etc.,
38% are »dry«, mainly bulkers, and only
few specialized vessels, such as drillships
(data by Clarksons and UNCTAD).
The recipe for this success story is known
in the industry: fair and stable regulatory
regime, prudent financing and man-
agement of the ships as well as a
deep market full of many small
and medium actors. It would be
fair to say, that the Greek shipping
is based on its size and the contin-
uous effort of improving the ratio of
quality and cost; few investments in
risky niche markets are only proclaimed.
However, there are signs that the Greek
public and
private actors
should not ig-
nore. It is a
personal opin-
ion that the fol-
lowing challenges
are at the same time
opportunities and threats and will sub-
stantially influence any future plans:
• Decarbonization of the shipping opera-
tions
• Loss of market shares in the passenger/
ro-ro markets
• Cruise industry – Homeporting
• Education and training
Technological leaders benefit
Decarbonization is the new holly grail and
refers to the reduction of the carbon foot-
print per ton-mile offered, which implies a
substantial reduction of the consumption
of energy. In other words, the use of envi-
ronmental friendlier fuels, such as LNG,
and of technology that can improve the
energy efficiency of the ships offer the ob-
vious yet risky path towards decarboni-
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4. Schifffahrt | Shipping
24 HANSA International Maritime Journal – 153. Jahrgang – 2016 – Nr. 6
zation. The
Greek own-
ers should
now prove
their agil-
ity in tech-
nology selec-
tion, as the cost
of the wrong deci-
sion might be detrimental. These risks
are closely associated with the financing
of new projects as well as with any renew-
al plans of existing fleets. Apparently, all
owners worldwide face these risks, yet in
the Greek case, one should take into ac-
count the lack of synergies and coupling
schemes among local technology providers
and ship owners. Clusters such as the Ger-
man and the Dutch one, whose technology
providers are globally active and in leading
positions, might benefit from the request-
ed technical leap ahead.
Potential in the Aegean
The Greek Coastal Shipping System
(GCSS) is a distinct market segment,
where passenger/ro-ro ferries serve the
extended network of islands in the Aege-
an as well as the Adriatic corridor. The co-
nundrum of GCSS is a difficult puzzle for
policy-makers and investors as it depends
on the course of the national economy and
on touristic flows. Extreme seasonality, ir-
rational cost structures and recession of
the economy resulted to losses and dimin-
ished market shares.
Policy-makers should consider more
elastic operating conditions for the ships
engaged in these trades and particularly to
consider leveling the manning and the re-
lated costs to the average European ones.
The Greek Flag becomes expensive and
the result is no other than loss of compe-
titiveness. Considering the refugee-flows
in the last years as projecting higher num-
bers for the future, the ships operating in
the GCSS could offer vital services for the
safe transport of people and of humanita-
rian aid. So far, few foreign investors have
penetrated this segment; however the re-
covery of the local economy, the increase
of touristic streams, the chance of huma-
nitarian support and the financially weak
position of Greek companies active in the
GCSS, could offer an interesting mix for
investment in a niche market.
Closely linked with the GCSS another
segment that draws attention is the cruise
market. Till 2012 the national legislation
was not fully compatible and leveled with
the European one; therefore few operators
considered Greek ports as homeports.
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
5
5 - 9
10 - 14
15 - 19
20 - 24
25 - 29
30 +
Greek merchant ships by age and number of ships
2015
2014
2013
0 2.000.000 4.000.000 6.000.000 8.000.000 10.000.000 12.000.000 14.000.000 16.000.000
5
5 - 9
10 - 14
15 - 19
20 - 24
25 - 29
30 +
Greek merchant ships by age and tonnage (GRT)
2015
2014
2013
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
100 - 500
500 - 3.000
3.000 - 7.000
7.000 - 10.000
10.000 - 20.000
20.000 - 30.000
30.000+
Greek merchant ships by tonnage (GRT) and number
2015
2014
2013
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Source:HellenicStatisticalAuthority

5. Schifffahrt | Shipping
HANSA International Maritime Journal – 153. Jahrgang – 2016 – Nr. 6 25
However, the benefit to the cluster is linked
with homeporting. Currently Greece is en-
joying a ratio of circa 19:1 visitors per ar-
rival, while Spain and Italy enjoy 4.3:1 and
3:1, implying a huge potential for improve-
ment that will benefit the local cluster. Ev-
idently, the development of homeport ser-
vices depends also on the local business
and investment environment, yet it offers
one more chance for fresh capital and ide-
as to enter the market. Both GCSS and the
cruise market offer the backdoor opportu-
nity for foreign participation in the Greek
cluster.
Demand for more officers
Finally, the level of education and training
of onboard and onshore personnel should
be considered further. It is not a cliché but
education and training is the ultimate in-
vestment and critical factor towards suc-
cess. The challenges mentioned above,
such as the decarbonization and the prof-
it-resulting ventures in GCSS and in the
cruise markets demand high-skilled and
competent personnel ashore and onboard.
Rephrasing Clemenceau, education is too
serious a matter to entrust to the State; pri-
vate interests should actively embark onto
this specialized service sector. The risk is
twofold: the lack of competence and skills
that will also lead to higher operating costs
as well as the lack of fresh and innovative
ideas that are usually generated by well ed-
ucated and experienced personnel.
Greece is still educating many officers
and there is demand for even more. Official
reports suggest that more young people
can follow a maritime or marine career as
the Greek market can accommodate them.
However, the State cannot easily cope with
the demand and any disinvestment in this
sector will backfire in the industry. In con-
clusion, a formula for a long-term public-
private cooperation should be considered
in order to retain the necessary expertise.
This is also another field of potential part-
nerships.
Opportunities and threats
Considering the above data and challen-
ges, Greek shipping enjoys a relatively sta-
ble and leading position yet with some
clouds in the sky. The regulatory demand
for decarbonized operations offers op-
portunities and threats simultaneously.
The proper mix of technology and finan-
cing should be realized otherwise the ef-
fect could be deleterious. The cluster will
not get any benefit from the decarbonizati-
on as no significant Greek technology and
service provider is active. This is a point
that should upset and arouse the interest
of Greek pubic and private actors towards
new ventures and ideas.
Furthermore the segments of cruise-
and passenger/ro-ro shipping should be
reconsidered given the contemporary fis-
cal and geopolitical conditions. Both seg-
ments offer opportunities for fresh invest-
ments of local and international investors.
These demanding sectors could also offer
paradigms to the deep-sea operators for
the decarbonization as well. Last but not
least, the Greek dominance will not last
unless a substantial investment in educa-
tion and training materializes soon. Ships
are complicated and sophisticated assets
indeed yet the key decision-making is left
to experts.
Author: Orestis Schinas
Hamburg School of Business
Administration (HSBA)
orestis.schinas@hsba.de