2004 is a very special year for Greece and Greek shipping. A bit more than 100 years since the 1st modern Olympic Games took place in Athens in 1896, and close to 2,800 years after the games were established in Ancient Olympus, the Olympic Games are set to return 'home'.

The Olympic flame will arrive in Piraeus on a full-scale replica of a 3,000 year-old warship 'Trieris' to illustrate Greece's long history as a maritime nation, which stretches from her ancient past through to its leading role in international shipping today.

In fact, the Greek-owned/operated fleet ranks 1st today in the world, followed by the Japanese and Norwegian-owned fleets.

The massive newbuilding spree that Greek owners have embarked upon in the past five years has not only renewed a major part of the Greek-owned fleet but also changed its composition as well. Newbuildings, such as chemical carriers, LNG carriers and container ships, were added to the traditional bulk and tanker market segments that Greeks previously operated.

Today, Greek interests have in excess of 18 percent of world newbuilding orders, making them one of the most important players in the newbuilding market.

The current Greek-operated fleet is 95 million GRT, with a further 14 million GRT on order. DNV has a sizeable share, with 20 million GRT in total, including 3.5 million GRT newbuildings - which is in excess of 25 percent of all newbuilding orders placed so far.

In April of this year, DNV passed a special milestone of 100 million GRT classed fleet and the vessel that stamped this occasion was a Greek-owned container vessel, P&O Nedlloyd Caracas, belonging to Danaos shipping.
This is a tribute to Greek shipping and also illustrates the significance Greek shipping has had and will have in the future for DNV.