Greek shipowners invested over $ 4.79 billion in ship purchases

After a short break during which the Chinese shipowners had taken over as buyers of second hand Greek ships, “order” has returned to international shipping.

In the first eight months of this year, the Greek shipowners invested over $4.798 billion. They are at the top of the list of buyers with the Chinese following in second place with the purchase of 221 ships with a total value of $ 2,927 million, according to the data of the Allied Shipbroking brokerage house.

Last year, however, in the eight months of January-August, Chinese shipowners were in the first place as they proved to be more active than their Greek colleagues, buying a total of 113 ships investing $2.136 billion dollars, while the Greek shipowners bought 108 ships investing $1.722 billions.

Greeks and Chinese have been and remain the most active in ship sales in recent years. But only once did the Chinese get ahead. There was another period that was “tied”.

“Battle” with the Chinese

This year, however, in the eight months, the purchase and sale of ships increased significantly compared to other years as 1,327 ships changed hands with a total value of $19.54 billion, with Bulkers accounting for almost 50% of transactions (637 vessels). Rising freight rates for dry bulk carriers and containerships have fostered trading.

On the contrary, in the eight months of 2020, due to the pandemic, sales had “frozen” resulting in the change of ownership for 702 ships, with a total value of $10.613 billion, while in 2019, during the same period, 898 ships with a total value of $11.690 billion had changed hands.

In the first eight months of 2021, Greek shipowners bought, among other ships, 173 bulkers worth $2.84 billion, 64 tankers worth $ 1.29 billion, 27 container vessels worth $0.36 billion and four gas carriers worth $0.23 billion.

In terms of sellers, Greek shipowners were in second place with sales of 168 ships worth 2.2 billion. while in the first place are traditionally the Japanese who in the eight months of this year sold 190 ships worth $3.01 billion.