EDITORIAL /
Our View: Shipping Hub
CEO, Enterprise Greece
Greece is growing as a shipping hub. With a maritime tradition stretching over millennia, Greece is one of the world’s leading shipping nations, controlling roughly one-fifth of the world’s fleet and half of Europe’s.
Over the years, Athens and Piraeus have emerged as a shipping hub in their own right. The number of shipping companies and supporting businesses – from bankers to brokers – headquartered around the Greek capital has been growing. The shipping world increasingly comes to Greece to do business.
The record participation in this month’s biennial Posidonia shipping exhibition is a sign of that. The exhibition drew more than 30,000 visitors from 130 countries and territories − a 12% increase from two years ago – and exhibitors from 81 countries. Every sector of the marine economy was there: from shipyards to ship owners, from ship registries to ship chandlers, from classification societies to manufacturers, and from software developers to trading firms.
Meanwhile, Greece is welcoming a new era at its shipyards, and seeing a new vigor in its exports of maritime equipment and supplies. In the world of shipping, Greece is the place to be.