TITLE:
The Greek and the Norwegian Shipping Industries: Why Are These Two at the Top of the 13 Global Shipping Nations for So Long?
AUTHORS:
Alexandros M. Goulielmos
KEYWORDS:
The Evolution of 2 Shipping Top Nations: Greece and Norway, The Role of the Flags of Convenience, Changes in the Ship-Owning Profession since 1900, The Role of Tradition, “Tramp Ship-Owners and Cross-Traders”, The Strategy of the Oil Companies, The Competitiveness Issue
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.14 No.5,
May
31,
2023
ABSTRACT: We compared Greece with Norway in ship-owning
endeavors since 1900. We revealed the common characteristics and properties of
the 2 countries, being admittedly in the top 13 positions till nowadays. We
revealed also the differences. The countries handled, however, the phenomenon
of the flags of convenience differently. Both suffered disastrous events like
the Great War, the 1929-1933 depression
and the 2nd WW, which harmed—if not equally—their
Merchant Fleets. A random effect we showed to be crucial, however, and this was:
the 1975-1987 “tanker & dry cargo depression”. Norway, a par excellence
“tanker nation”, till
today, felt deeper this tanker depression—and the following dry cargo one—losing part of its fleet.
Greece—a “bulk carriers” nation—till today—accelerated its tonnage growth by leaps and bounds, after 1987, and as a
result, owned 85 m dwt in March 1988 and 355 m dwt in March 2022! Both countries were poor, agricultural, and small,
with no significant own capital, having only good sailors, ship-owners,
many islands, and few shipbuilders (especially
Norway)! But, they found the way: 1) to become the first merchants and ship-owners, and subsequently only ship-owners; 2)
to get rid of their smallness, by targeting at serving the entire
seaborne trade; 3) to dominate in an
important part of the sea transportation businesses: the “tramp” shipping and the “cross-trading”. There—as shown—the higher but riskier revenue is to be found… We showed also that
behind the above achievements, 3 factors are essential: a) to be competitive,
b) not to rely too much on flags of convenience (as their correlation coefficient was found very low); and c) to carry out
investments in new buildings and/or in 2nd hand ships,
applying mainly the perfect timing strategy!