Trade with Greece
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DWT (168.9 million GT).
-In terms of deadweight tonnage (DWT), Greek
shipping is ranked first in the world, followed by
Japan (242.6 million) —which it surpassed in the
past two years—, while China (190.6 million) and
Germany (126.4 million) hold the third and fourth
places respectively,
Per type of vessel, Greek shipowners hold:
● the first place in tankers, with 1,217 vessels of
a total deadweight tonnage of 118.6 million
(24% of the corresponding global fleet), fol-
lowed by the Japanese (40.2 million DWT) and
the Chinese (32.9 million DWT);
● the second place in dry bulk carriers (16.4% of
the total) with 1,878 vessels of a total dead-
weight tonnage of 145.5 million, while Japan
holds the first place (156.3 million) and China
the third place (124.7 million).
Greek shipowners also control 10.6% of the global
LNG carrier fleet, 13.9% of the refined oil-products
and chemicals tanker fleet, 7.9% of container ships
and 4.2% of passenger carriers.
-Based on the number of vessels with a gross ton-
nage of more than 1,000 GT, Greeks are ranked
fifth in the world, below Japan (controlling 8,613
vessels of with a gross tonnage of more than
1,000 GT), Indonesia (6,774 vessels), China
(6,479 vessels) and the US (5,003 vessels), and
above Germany (4,211 vessels), Singapore
(3,556 vessels), Russia (2,852 vessels), Norway
(2,787 vessels) and S. Korea (2,652 vessels).
b) The value of the Greek-owned ocean-going
fleet was estimated at $105.7 billion in early
2015, increased by 4.5% year-on-year. It is the
number one fleet worldwide in terms of value,
representing 15.5% of total maritime transport
capacity ($680 billion), and followed by Japan
(13.2%), China (10.4%), Germany (7.3%) and
Singapore (5.6%).
In terms of vessel type, the value of the Greek-
controlled merchant fleet is broken down as fol-
lows:
●Dry bulk carriers: $35.5 bn
●Container ships: $12.3 bn
●Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers: $12.3 bn
●Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) carriers: $3.9 bn
●Tankers: $41.7 bn
c) The contribution of ocean-going shipping to the
EU’s GDP is crucial and is estimated at more than
€150 billion per year.
In terms of deadweight tonnage, 46.7% of this
amount is generated by the Greek-owned mer-
chant fleet, followed by Germany, with 20%.
d) As far as the national merchant fleet (Greek-
flagged ships) is concerned, Greece is ranked
second in terms of gross tonnage in the European
Union —and 7th in the world—, controlling
21.04% of the European merchant fleet of ves-
sels of more than 1,000 GT, with a total tonnage
of 41.83 million tonnes. Malta is ranked first in
Europe on a national fleet basis (24.76% of the
European fleet, with a total tonnage of 49.23 mil-
lion), while Cyprus is ranked third (10.17% of the
European merchant fleet, with a total tonnage of
