By Antonis Tsimplakis

 

Greek shipowners are once again the leaders in the tanker market. More specifically, of the 751 tankers currently being built at the yards, 222, i.e. 30%, belong to shipping companies of Greek interests, according to the representatives of the shipping sector during the 8th Naftemporiki Conference.

 

The tanker orderbook in relation to the active fleet has climbed to its highest level in five years, driven by a spectacular increase in newbuilding investment since the second half of 2022.

 

According to data from Xclusiv Shipbrokers, a total of 751 tankers with a capacity of 66.3 million DWT were under construction at the end of April, while the existing fleet consists of 7,594 vessels with a capacity of 691.5 million DWT.

 

The orderbook corresponds to 9.9% of the fleet in terms of vessels and 9.6% in terms of tonnage (DWT). The last time the orderbook exceeded 9.6% in DWT terms was in May 2019 (9.64%).

 

Regarding crude tankers, the tonnage under construction corresponds to 7.4% of the existing fleet in terms of DWT. This is the highest performance since January 2022 (about 8%).

 

Greece, the "Silicon Valley" of global shipping?

 

Greek shipping has always been a pioneer in exploiting technological developments and innovation. Therefore, it could not remain unaffected by the revolution of digital transformation and artificial intelligence.

 

So how and to what extent are data collection, processing,  analysis and digital solutions affecting shipping companies?

 

To the question whether Greece can be the Silicon Valley of global shipping, Konstantinos Kyriakopoulos, co-founder and CEO of DeepSea Technologies, answered positively. His company was founded in 2017 by bringing together artificial intelligence scientists and people with deep knowledge of shipping, with the ultimate goal of fully autonomous ships.

 

"The opportunity often comes from a change in technology," Dimitris Theodosiou, co-founder and General Manager of Danaos Management Consultants S.A. said. Referring to artificial intelligence, he noted that this is a rapid change, which is creating great opportunities. "AI can make us all super efficient and we should see it positively," he underlined.

 

Citing some examples of the profits of shipping companies from the use of technologies, he said that with the internet of things they can monitor consumption, with machine learning they can make a good model of the ship. "We give them tools to measure the data and make decisions," he explained. He also expressed the estimate that with greater efficiency, new quality jobs will be created.

 

The miracle of Greek shipping

 

With the experience of 54 years of activity in Greek shipping, Giorgos Prokopiou, founder of the companies Dynacom Tankers, Sea Traders and Dynagas, spoke from the podium of the 8th Naftemporiki Conference about all the new trends and challenges faced by Greek shipowners today.

 

His message? It is a sector with enormous challenges and constant upheavals. In order to survive, one must love what he does and have patience and perseverance. Closer cooperation between shipowners and the state is also absolutely necessary, as is the change in the attitude of the European Union.

 

"We represent 0.006% of the world's population. But we have a larger shipping sector than China which has shipyards, banks, and plenty of seamen. This is the miracle of Greek shipping," Prokopiou said.

 

The 5 major challenges

 

– The rapid development of technology. A ship you buy today may be technologically "obsolete."

 

– The uncertainty of trading. "You make contracts for 30 years and in 3 years humanity has changed. Friends become enemies, sanctions are coming," he noted.

 

– The third challenge is none other than high interest rates,

 

– The fourth challenge is trade wars.

 

– Finally, an important challenge is the new pollution regulations. Prokopiou did not hide his disappointment with the way the European Union treats Greek shipping.

 

"We need to attract more people to maritime profession"

 

 The need to strengthen maritime education, as well as to attract more young people to the maritime profession was underlined by Captain Panagiotis Tsakos, during his speech at the 8th Naftemporiki Conference.

 

Receiving the award from the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Christos Stylianidis, in recognition of his valuable contribution to the field of maritime education and training, Captain Panagiotis Tsakos, expressed his gratitude to Naftemporiki.

 

"The new – on order – ships need at least 10,000 Greek seamen"

 

He noted that "a lot of work is still needed in order to attract more people to the Greek ships."

 

"We have 500 new ships on order, these new ships need at least 10,000 Greek seamen," he pointed out.

 

"To inspire the next generations to follow the naval career"

 

"There is a need to inspire the next generations to follow the naval career. Shipping is its people," he said, urging all maritime people and institutional bodies "to adopt our vision and establish more maritime schools and academies."