By Antonis Tsimplakis

 

Greece's shipping industry maintains a leading role in the energy transport sector at a global level, with tankers dominating for another year and the value of the blue and white fleet exceeding 70 billion dollars.

 

In the annual ranking of the world's top shipping nations – in terms of the total value of the fleet – published by the shipping data company VesselsValue, Greece is in first place in the tanker category with a fleet worth 71.3 billion dollars. In second place is China, with a tanker fleet value of 47.9 billion dollars (a difference of 23.4 billion with Greece), while Japan ranks third, with the data showing the value of the fleet at 35.3 billion dollars.

 

According to VesselsValue, the tanker fleet of Greek shipowners is the one with the highest value, followed by the bulk carriers and containerships fleet of Chinese shipowners (68.5 billion dollars and 63.5 billion dollars, respectively). This is despite the fact that the Chinese tanker fleet has more ships than the Greek fleet. Compared to last year, Greece recorded an increase in the value of its tanker fleet of almost 2 billion dollars (69.5 billion in the previous analysis).

 

Based on the same data, Greece is in second place worldwide in terms of the value of the LNG carrier fleet, with a total value of 32.4 billion dollars, while the fleet of Japanese shipowners is in first place, with a value of 40.9 billion dollars.

 

In bulk carriers, Greece ranks third with a fleet worth 54.4 billion dollars, behind Japan at 61.9 billion and China at 68.5 billion. Finally, Greece holds the fifth place in the container ship sector (18.3 billion), behind China, Japan, Singapore and Germany, while it is in seventh place in terms of vehicle carriers.

 

Global shipping community discusses energy transition in Athens

 

The issue of decarbonizing shipping in view of the meeting of the competent Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which is expected to approve a global mechanism for determining a price for greenhouse gas emissions from ships, is at the center of a meeting of the Working Group of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) with the Hellenic Shipowners Association.

 

The International Chamber of Shipping, with more than 47 states representing approximately 2/3 of the world's tonnage, has already submitted a joint proposal, which may constitute a key pillar of the sought-after global agreement in the upcoming crucial negotiations at the IMO.

 

They jointly proposed a text for the greenhouse gas emissions pricing mechanism for international shipping, while they came up with the text of the MARPOL convention for the annual contribution of ships, per ton of greenhouse gas emissions, to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) fund, amounting to several billion dollars.

 

The new joint proposal aims to achieve the net zero emissions target by reducing the price gap and providing incentives for the adoption of zero/near-zero emission marine fuels.

 

If appropriate regulations are adopted by IMO Member States in April 2025, the shipping GHG pricing mechanism should enter into force worldwide in early 2027.

 

The main purpose of this mandatory GHG charging will be to reduce the cost difference between zero/near-zero GHG fuels (such as green methanol, ammonia and hydrogen) and conventional marine fuels, in order to incentivise the faster adoption of green energy sources.

 

The resulting revenues will be used to reward the production and adoption of alternative fuels, while also providing billions of US dollars annually to support developing countries' shipping efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.