Tough shipping markets and less appetite for finance has squeezed the number of Greek companies but big owners continue to get bigger, new research suggests.
The number of Greek companies has declined for the fifth consecutive year and has come down to 638, according to data compiled by Petrofin Research.
“Considering the level of financial difficulties encountered by Greek shipping, this fall is modest,” the report read.
As TradeWinds has reported, smaller owners have been suffering for many months due to the dry bulk market slump and have been forced to sell their vessels.
At the same time, large Greek owners are becoming larger and younger as they take advantage of poor markets and low asset prices.
In terms of deadweight tonnage the Greek fleet has expanded by 10.26% to 361,934,047 dwt.
Petrofin noted that this “significant” increase has occurred despite record scrapping by the Greeks in 2016.
The number of ships owned by Greek companies has gone up from 4,909 to 5,230, the biggest increase since 2001.
According to the report, the very young fleets also continue to rise, a sign of commitment from Greek owners towards modern ships.
The Greek owners have performed well compared to their rivals as Japan, China and Germany saw their annual rate of growth decline in 2016.
