Greek-owned shipping ranks second after China in terms of dwt (a unit of measurement that defines the weight of the cargo that a ship is allowed to carry), while Japan occupies the third position.
According to data shared with “Naftemporiki” by Veson Nautical, the Chinese fleet in terms of dwt has a total capacity of 420,064,563 million tons compared to 403,955,270 million tons of the Greek-owned fleet, which ranks second.
However, these data are in complete contrast to the data of the UN (UNCTAD), where the Greek-owned fleet in August 2023 occupied the first place in terms of dwt, with its total capacity of 393 million tons, at a considerable distance from China (302 million dwt) and Japan (238 million dwt).
The Clarksons figures, which were processed and published by BIMCO in November 2023, seem to be clearer. In the BIMCO measurement, only ships carrying cargo are recorded. In this measurement and in terms of dwt, the Greek shipowners once again hold the lead, with a percentage of the world fleet of 19%, while the Chinese follow with 15%.
According to Veson Nautical data, Japan is third with 294,890,188 million dwt, followed by Singapore with 133,401,900 dwt and South Korea with 98,153,4500 million dwt.
Third in value
Greece maintains the third position in world shipping with a fleet worth 169 billion US dollars, according to the annual World Fleet Values list of the top ten fleets in the world presented by VesselsValue.
The Greek tanker fleet has the highest value at 69.5 billion US dollars, followed by China at 22.1 billion US dollars, which however owns more tankers.
Greece is also the owner of the second largest LNG fleet, with 143 vessels and a fleet value of 31.1 billion euros.
The first place in fleet value is held by Japan, which controls assets worth 206 billion euros, up 5% compared to last year, followed by China, with a value of 204 billion US dollars.
Japan has made significant investments in the tanker sector, adding nearly 100 vessels to the fleet, increasing the total value by around 15.5%.
Once again, China also ranks first in ship ownership, with a total of 6,084 ships and a current fleet value of 204 billion US dollars.
Moreover, China owns the largest fleet of bulkers, both in terms of ships and in terms of value.
