Increase in number of shippers
Shipping companies based in Greece (or with an office in Greece’s main ports) posted a small but steady rise in 2005 compared with 2004, according to data compiled by the Merchant Marine Ministry. In 2005 there were 1,153 companies recorded as based in Greece, against 1,075 in 2004, a rise of 78 companies or 7.25 percent year-on-year. Of the 1,153 shipping companies, 703 were involved in ship management while the other 450 were active in the sector of chartering and other similar shipping business. The contribution of those 1,153 companies in bringing in foreign currency was very significant: Ministry data show that they imported $2,227,505,233 in 2005, against $2,018,987,701 which the 1,075 companies had imported in 2004, which is a rise of 10.3 percent. The 703 ship management companies managed 3,090 vessels in 2005, of which 570 fly the Greek flag, i.e. 18 percent. In 2004 they had managed 559 ships with the Greek flag and 2,527 ships with foreign flags. The operating expenses of the companies and offices based in Greece in 2005 showed a 10.5 percent annual rise. Office expenses (rent, staff salaries etc) during 2005 set shipping companies back by $599,695,894, against $542,636,690 in 2004. The companies’ other expenses (taxes, crew salaries, fueling and maintenance of ships, etc) came to $1,482,150,407 in 2005, from $1,378,527,650 in 2004, that is a 7.5 percent annual rise. The staff which the 1,153 companies employed in 2005 came to 11,764 people, of which 10,383 were Greeks and 1,381 foreign nationals. In 2004 the 1,075 companies had employed 11,041 people (9,753 Greeks and 1,288 foreigners). Most of the 1,381 foreign employees in the Greece-based shipping companies were from Europe (764), while 50 were from America, 518 from Asia, 44 from Africa and five from Oceania.
