Greek shipping

Greece is a maritime nation by tradition, as shipping is arguably the oldest form of occupation of the Greeks and has been a key element of Greek economic activity since ancient times. Today, shipping is the country's most important industry (worth €251.1 billion in 2015). It accounts for 6.5% of GDP, employs about 290,000 people (7% of the workforce), and shipping receipts are about 1/3 of the nation's trade deficit. In 2015, the Greek Merchant Navy controlled the world's largest merchant fleet, in terms of tonnage, with a total DWT of 334,649,089 tons and a fleet of 5,226 Greek-owned vessels, according to Lloyd's List. Greece is also ranked in the top for all kinds of ships, including first for tankers and bulk carriers.

Many Greek shipping companies have their headquarters located either in Athens or London and New York City, and are run by Greek traditional shipping families which are notable for their great wealth and influence in the international maritime industry, such as the Vardinoyannis, Latsis, Livanos, Angelicoussis, Niarchos, Angelopoulos and Goulandris. The 7th Secretary General (2003-2011) of the International Maritime Organization was Efthymios Mitropoulos.

The Greeks have been a maritime nation since antiquity, as the mountainous landscape of the mainland, and the limited farming area and the extended coastline of Greece led people to shipping. The geographical position of the region on the crossroads of ancient sea lanes in the eastern Mediterranean, the multiplicity of islands and the proximity to other advanced civilizations helped shape the maritime nature of the Greek nation at an early stage. In Greece and the wider Aegean, international trade existed from the Minoan and Mycenean times in the Bronze Age. The presence of goods such as pottery, gold, copper objects far away from their area of provenance attests to this wide ranging network of shipping transport and trade that existed between the Greek mainland and the Greek islands . The Greeks soon came to dominate the maritime trade in the region, gradually expanding it along the shores of the Mediterranean to Egypt, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, the Black Sea, and establishing colonies. The prowess of the ancient Greek navy was primarily displayed in naval battles during the Persian wars, the Delian League era and the Peloponnesian war. In the following centuries, a large part of the sea trade of the Roman Empire was carried out by the Greeks, while they continued to be involved and play a major role in shipping during the era of the Byzantine Empire as well.

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Wikipedia