“The global cargo shipping fleet consists of around 61,000 vessels with approximately 2.2 billion dwt. Vessels owned by Greek and Chinese shipping companies contribute 34% of the total dwt capacity of the fleet,” says Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at Bimco.
Although consolidation has been significant within the container shipping segment, the overall shipping market is still highly fragmented and the average shipping company only owns a few vessels. However, over time key shipping nations have emerged. Others have since lost importance due to changes in global trade, but Greece remains the world´s leading shipping nation.
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“In terms of cargo capacity, Greek shipowners control the largest fleet of cargo shipping vessels in the world with 19% of the capacity and maintain a particularly high share in the bulk, tanker and gas carrier sectors,” says Rasmussen.
The approach of Chinese shipowners has been slightly different. They control a smaller proportion of tankers and gas carriers, but a larger proportion of the general cargo and container fleets with Cosco Shipping contributing to the larger proportion of the latter´s fleet.
The entry of Chinese financial institutions into the charter market has contributed significantly to the growth of the Chinese-owned fleet in recent years, with five of the top 10 Chinese shipowners engaged in chartering. Together, the ten largest shipowners control 41% of the Chinese-owned fleet.
The ten largest Greek shipowners are all “traditional” shipowners. Unlike the top ten Chinese owners, the list of the top ten Greek shipowners is not dominated by a single large owner. In contrast, there are seven shipowners with fleets exceeding 10 million dwt, while only three Chinese shipowners have fleets that large.
Although the Chinese fleet has fewer large shipowners, the order book of all Chinese shipowners is 21% larger than that of their counterparts in Greece.
According to Bimco, Greek shipowners are usually very active in the second-hand market, this could indicate that the Chinese fleet could grow faster than the Greek fleets in the coming years.
“Chinese and Greek shipowners have in common that, relative to their existing fleet, their construction order lists are for LNG vessels and Pure Car Carriers (PCC), two markets currently experiencing strong growth. Chinese shipowners have the largest order book in these segments. While the order book for LNG and PCC methane tankers represents, respectively, 126% and 260% of the current fleet,” says Rasmussen.
News and image obtained: Mundo Marítimo"
