Shipping ‘a beacon of stability in a volatile global environment,’ head of Greek Shipowners Union says

Shipping has operated and continues to operate as “a beacon of stability amid a volatile global environment,” the president of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), Melina Travlos, stated on Thursday, on the occasion of the upcoming international shipping exhibition Posidonia.

The biennial exhibition will be held Athens Metropolitan Expo – adjacent to the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport – between June 6 and June 10. Posidonia returns after four years, as the 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Travlos reminded that the Greek-controlled ocean-going fleet is the leader in the shipping industry.

“Today it represents a 21 percent of the world’s tonnage and 59 percent of the European Union (EU) fleet. In particular, it controls, inter alia, 32 percent of the world fleet in tankers, 25 percent of bulk carriers and 22 percent of LNG carriers. Greek shipping, which is an integral part of European shipping, provides a strategic advantage to the European Union in its effort to ensure the adequacy and independence of its supply with essential goods and energy,” Travlos, the UGS’s first female president said.

During the four-year period since “Posidonia 2018”, the shipping industry continued uninterruptedly to serve 90 percent of world trade. “In the volatile global environment, shipping has acted as a beacon of stability, responding to the unprecedented conditions we have been facing due to the international health crisis the last two years, as well as due to the geopolitical crisis of recent months in Europe,” she said, adding: “Posidonia 2022 will also be an excellent opportunity for promoting the environmental footprint of global shipping, as well as the environmental performance of the Greek-owned fleet.” The expo will also showcase a unique communication platform for ship operation, with applications that lead gradually to carbon-free shipping.”

She concluded by saying that the Union of Greek Shipowners is committed so that Greek shipping, as a global leader, will be at the forefront of initiatives to adopt viable policies for the benefit of sustainable development, the protection of the planet and the smooth functioning of the global ecosystem.