Greece Remains World’s Maritime Powerhouse in 2025

Greece remains the world’s starring ship-owning nation by capacity, according to UNCTAD’s Review of Maritime Transport 2025, extending its long-held dominance successful planetary shipping.

As of January 2025, Greek shipowners controlled 16.4% of planetary dormant weight tonnage (dwt) with 5,124 vessels. Of these, conscionable 562 alert the Greek flag, while the majority—4,555 vessels—are registered under overseas flags.Together with China and Japan, Greece accounts for implicit 40% of the world fleet by carrying capacity, astir 1 third of each vessels, and 33.1% of planetary fleet value. The top ten ship-owning nations collectively clasp 67.3% of planetary capableness and 65.6% of its value.

Although Greece leads by tonnage, the study notes that Chinese owners present clasp the largest stock of the fleet by value (12.4%). If China and Hong Kong’s fleets are combined, their stock rises to 20.2%, putting them up of Greece successful wide ownership.

The UNCTAD reappraisal warns that the planetary shipping manufacture has not “witnessed such sustained disruption to the arteries of planetary commerce since the closure of the Suez Canal successful 1967”.  Among the challenges it faces are: disruption successful large oversea lanes, chronic larboard delays, and rising information risks. Average shipping distances person accrued sharply, reflecting the interaction of rerouted trade flows. At the aforesaid time, technological, environmental, and regulatory transitions are reshaping the assemblage astatine an unprecedented speed.

Amongst the astir important factors affecting the aboriginal of maritime industries is the imaginable adoption of the Net-zero Framework of the International Maritime Organization successful October 2025, arsenic it could “reshape adjacent further however ships are built, fuelled and operated”. According to the UNCTAD reappraisal the archetypal steps person already been taken successful the agelong and winding roadworthy of transitioning to zero-carbon emissions but there is still a agelong way to go. “Alternative substance vessels present correspond much than fractional of the vessel tonnage of caller orders, though implicit 90 per cent of the progressive fleet by tonnage still runs connected accepted fuels. This spread betwixt ambition and world defines our challenge” stresses the report.

For Greece, the findings item some strength and vulnerability. The nation’s fleet remains unmatched successful carrying capacity, but it indispensable present accommodate to tighter decarbonisation rules, the spread of integer technologies, and intensifying contention from Asia. As the UNCTAD reappraisal notes, the shipping industry is facing simultaneous transitions, and however countries similar Greece navigate them will assistance find whether the assemblage emerges much resilient oregon much fragmented.