Banks reduce funding of shipping
Greek banks reduced their funding of the shipping industry in 2011 by 8.6 percent last year, as their total shipping portfolio declined to $14.51 billion from $15.88 billion in 2010, according to an annual survey by Petrofin Bank Research.
The survey identified six parameters for this trend: The weak shipping market in many sectors, the drop in revenues from ship management and in the vessels? value, the pessimistic estimates for rates owing to the oversupply of capacity, the restructuring of and defaulting on loans, the financial crisis and the business insecurity in Greece, and the departure of certain banks from shipping funding.
It remains unclear how 2012 will shape up regarding shipping funding.