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Greek-owned fleet soars 10pc over 12 months for record capacity

THE Greek-owned merchant fleet has surged to 3,901 ships for a record capacity of 290.8 million dead weight tonnes in the 12 months to March, up by 224 vessels on a capacity increase of 9.6 per cent.

The capacity of the fleet controlled by the country's owners has doubled since the year 2000.

The figures include a newbuilding order book that in March stood at 378 vessels of 22.5 million gross tonnes, reported Lloyd's List.

Greek orders are dominated by 148 dry bulk and ore carriers, followed by 92 tankers, 70 gas carriers and 61 containerships, according to a new survey for the Greek Shipping Co-operation Committee (GSCC).

Greek owners added tonnage in all main shipping sectors over the last year, the GSCC report shows. The greatest leap was in the dry bulk fleet, which added 116 vessels of 11.9 million dwt.

The Greek-owned fleet continued its rapid age reduction and now stands 2.5 years younger on average than the world fleet, with an average 9.9 years per ship versus 12.4 years for the industry worldwide.

Recent trends for the Greek-flag fleet were mixed as the flag gained by 2.7 million dwt in the last 12 months but suffered a net reduction of 10 vessels. The average age of the Greek-flag fleet also rose slightly.

In terms of dead weight tonnes the Greek register now represents just one-fifth of Greek-owned tonnage.