By L. Karageorgos
[email protected]
Greek shipping interests and shipowners placed 2.24 billion USD worth of new orders in the first quarter of 2019, although the figure is less than the corresponding period of 2018, excluding new LNG carrier orders.
The development mostly mirrors the global trend in shipping, with the exception being Chinese shipping interests, who increased orders in Q1 2019 compared to Q1 2018.
According to Golden Destiny, interest by Greek shipowners in new orders slackened in the first quarter of 2019, although the very prominent exception was the LNG carrier sector, where the former were the protagonists.
Greek shipping interests placed 13 out of the 29 orders worldwide for new LNG carriers in Q1 2019.
The other orders placed by Greek shipowners and companies included 10 tankers and only three new bulk carriers.
Over the same period in 2018, Greek shipping had placed 37 new orders, six of which were for LNG carriers.