China has overtaken Greece in terms of gross tonnage, but Greece still holds the lead in the deadweight ranking, Splash reports citing data from Clarksons Research.
According to the Clarksons rating, the total gross tonnage of ships owned by China is 249.2 million register tons (180 billion dollars in value terms), Greece – 249 million register tons. In third place is Japan – 181 million registered tons. It is followed by South Korea and the United States, which each have 66 million register tons. Germany, which 10 years ago, ranked fourth in this ranking, is now only in seventh place.
“China is more active than Greece in the new build market and in the buying and selling of boats,” Clarksons said. – China has the largest share of the fleet of bulk carriers (24%) and container ships (16%). The largest Chinese shipowners are state-owned companies: COSCO and China Merchants.”
In the early 2000s, China’s merchant marine accounted for about one-twentieth of the world’s total fleet, and now, 20 years later, it is already one-seventh of it. China’s merchant fleet capacity has more than doubled in the past 10 years.
“China is leading not only in shipping, but also in shipbuilding. The Chinese have overtaken South Korea to come out on top in this industry, Chinese port operators now have a huge global presence. Over the past decade, the PRC has become a vital source of funding for courts,” writes Splash.
Greece does not give up and strives to continue to be a world leader. Over the past 10 years, the total capacity of the Greek merchant fleet, currently consisting of 5520 ships, increased by 50%. Greek shipping companies are the main carriers of essential goods, they account for (in terms of deadweight):
- 31.27% of the world tanker fleet,
- 25.32% of the world bulk carrier fleet,
- 22.65% of the world fleet of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers,
- 15.79% of the world fleet of chemical tankers and product tankers,
- 11.46% of the world fleet of tankers for the transport of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG),
- 8.92% of the global container ship fleet.
The Greek-owned merchant fleet is the world’s largest cross-trader, transporting goods between third countries, with more than 98% of the tonnage of Greek companies involved in such traffic.
Greek shipowners operate mainly in the tanker/trump shipping industry, a sector specialized in the transport of commodities such as grain and other agricultural products, oil and gas, iron ore, chemicals, coal, fertilizers and forest products.
The liquid/trump segment has the characteristics of a near-perfect competitive market where shipowners have no control over shipping prices. The shipping industry provides transportation in the most economical and efficient way. For example, thanks to ever-increasing economies of scale, transportation costs are kept surprisingly low for the benefit of the end consumer, the report says. The average tonnage of a ship owned by Greek shipowners is almost double the world average.
However, over the past decade, the average tonnage of Greek-owned ships has increased significantly and now stands at 81,395 dwt, while the global average remains much lower at 45,337 dwt.
In the order portfolio of Greek shipowners for the construction of new vessels, as of April 2023, there were 241 vessels with a total deadweight of 19 million tons. This is 40% more than in the previous year (173 vessels). UGS estimates that more than 40% of the oil tankers and almost one in six LNG carriers under construction are ordered by Greek owners. In addition, the average age of the Greek fleet, which is about 10 years, is below the world average, which is almost 11 years.
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