The Strategies Applied, since 1850, and the Growth Achieved, since 1950, by the Owners of the Greek Ships

Abstract

We showed the position that the Greek-owned shipping industry possessed in the EU and in the World in 2018 (in dwt). We also showed the value of its vessels in 2018-2019. Greeks owned 4221 ships of 354m dwt in March 2025, of an estimated value of about $100b, or 39% of country’s GDP 2024 . Greeks preferred, by 85%, among Europeans, to manage “oil tankers” (36%) and “dry cargo bulk carriers” (46%). The shipping industry, after the 2003-2008 boom, had to face a “global financial crisis” (2009-2018), a “Pandemic” (2019-2021) and two “local wars” (2022-). The Russia-Ukraine war changed the route-distances of a certain type of vessels. These four serious developments, moreover, caused shipowners to reduce their orders of new ships by more than 40%, since 2008, with the result that the world fleet was not renewed and the world shipbuilding did not expand as fast as it could. We also showed the 14 long-term strategies followed by Greek shipowners since 1850, applying practices like “Perfect Timing”, “the economies of lower age”, and the “economies of scale”, in both their new buildings and the 2 nd hand purchases. Moreover, Greeks very early realized that “forecasting” maritime markets was impossible. The main contribution of this work is the calculation of the growth rates of the Greek-owned fleet, since 1950, from y to y, and also of its statistical “typical” growth rate for the last 74 or so years. Greek shipping only during the first 28 years showed serious growth rates starting in 1950. The fleet’s growth rate was restricted by the various depressions, which all Greek shipowners have not succeeded in facing efficiently and effectively, with very few exceptions. We also showed the way to calculate the “Cash Flow” of a shipping company using data from an existing shipping company, between 1985 and 1992, and we demonstrated how to apply this tool of the nonlinear management. Cash-flow management was and is the “weak point” of the Greek shipowners.