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World’s shipping industry meets in Athens amid shifting tides, rise in AI
From financial pressures and the energy transition to digitalization and AI, the global shipping industry is adapting to geopolitical upheaval and structural shifts.
Next month, shipping leaders will gather in Athens for Posidonia 2026, the world’s largest shipping exhibition, to explore emerging industry trends. The biennial event will run from 1–5 June at the Athens Metropolitan Expo and feature more than 2,000 exhibitors from 138 countries, with over 30,000 visitors expected.
“Posidonia has always been more than an exhibition. It is a platform where the industry comes together to address real-world challenges and shape its future direction,” said Theodore Vokos, Managing Director, Posidonia Exhibitions S.A. “This year’s conference program reflects the urgency of the issues facing shipping today, particularly the impact of geopolitics, energy transition and technological change.”
Central to this year’s exhibition will be the role of AI in shipping with applications in predictive maintenance, fuel optimization, digital compliance and operational analytics. According to an industry survey, adoption of AI is mixed, but with classification society Bureau Veritas seeing AI increasingly embedded in routing optimization, fuel consumption prediction, and risk-based inspection frameworks.
Greek shipowners control 21% of global tonnage with a total of 5,543 ships and Greece continues to be the world’s largest shipping nation. In Europe, Greek interests control some 70% of the EU fleet of strategically important vessels.