Ship-owner

Greek shipowners could relocate to Britain after it leaves the European Union if European regulators demand changes to favorable shipping taxes in Greece, a top industry official said on Friday.

"The business of publications and conferences is basically the same thing: bringing people together, like an ancient agora," says Themistocles Vokos, one of the main forces behind the biennial Posidonia exhibition that opens on Monday at the Athens Metropolitan Expo center.

Roughly one in two Greek shipping companies (56 percent) would consider relocating their administrative bases abroad, according to the findings of an Ernst & Young study titled "Repositioning Greece as a Global Maritime Capital."

Greek shippers intend to discuss the extension of their voluntary economic contribution to the state into 2018 in the context of an extraordinary general meeting of the Union of Greek Shipowners (EEE) scheduled for June 26.

The soaring of the Greek-owned merchant fleet's numbers since 2010 confirms that the nation is consolidating its position at the top of the global shipping industry.

UK-regulated ship insurers are preparing plans to open new outposts in European Union jurisdictions such as Luxembourg and Cyprus, fearing that Brexit will hinder access to the EU's financial market, industry sources involved say.

According to data by maritime site ‘VesselsValue.com’, the Greek merchant fleet is ranked on the top of global value. The aggregate asset worth of the Greek-owned fleet is larger than that of Norway, Britain and Germany combined!