In Hellenic Shipping News 19/08/2016
Source: DNV GL, Tanker Update
Greece is a shipping nation par excellence. Today the Greek shipping industry is the world’s number one in terms of gross rate tonnes (GRT), and the Greek-owned commercial fleet represents roughly 16 per cent of the global fleet in deadweight tonnage. Since the late 1990s, the number of ships owned by Greek companies has doubled, and the tonnage of Greek-owned vessels has quadrupled, reflecting the continuous increase of ship sizes. About half of the Greek-owned fleet is bulk carriers, and 35 per cent are oil tankers. Substantial capital has been invested in modernizing the Greek fleet over the past 15 years, lowering the average vessel age from over 20 years in the year 2000 to just under ten years today.
Long-standing relationship
As all these facts show the Greek shipping sector is a mainstay of the global maritime industry, and all evidence indicates it will continue its 2,500-year success story far into the future. Greece in general, and its famous port of Piraeus in particular, form a unique maritime hotspot with an unmatched concentration of shipping company headquarters and offices. DNV GL has been a partner to Greek shipping companies for nearly a century and is proud of its long-standing and productive relationship with the nation’s shipowners and operators. In pursuit of its long-term strategic goals and in response to the steady growth of the Greek maritime sector, DNV GL has decided to boost its range of services available locally and accelerate service delivery. This means that owners and operators based in Greece will be able to conduct even more of their business directly with the DNV GL team in Piraeus. More dif- ficult and challenging decisions will be made locally by the Chief Surveyor, which enables us to respond even faster to the needs of local customers. What is more, the Greek DNV GL Maritime Service Center (MSC) now covers approval of all major technical disciplines within both newbuilding as well as fleet-in-service. Furthermore, the existing research and development team will be expanded and focus its work primarily on the needs of the local maritime community. As an additional measure specifi- cally supporting Greek shipowners and ship operators, DNV GL is building a global network of Greek-speaking surveyors operating in seven different countries around the world.
DATE located in Greece
The new DNV GL Direct Access to Technical Experts service (DATE), which has been established as a global service recently, likewise offers Greek-speaking experts. It provides customers with direct access to a pool of experts located in Hamburg, Oslo, Singapore, Piraeus and Houston. It is available to the fleet in service 24 hours a day, Monday through to Friday and, for urgent enquiries, even at weekends and on public holidays. All requests are normally answered within one working day, and all offices work together as a single point of contact and unified source of expertise. To further support the high number of tanker owners in Greece, DNV GL has decided that the global Tanker Director will be spending a major portion of her time in Greece. All these measures demonstrate the commitment of DNV GL to its Greek customers and to the principle that DNV GL is at home wherever its customers are.
Source: DNV GL, Tanker Update
