Greek shipping companies benefit despite the Hormuz blockade and EU sanctions

Georgios Prokopiou is one of the most powerful Greek shipowners. Even though shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has almost come to a standstill since the Iran War, the 80-year-old billionaire has sailed his ships through the blocked sea route several times. He recently boasted that Greece has a tradition of breaking blockades since ancient times.

Prokopiou is not the only Greek shipowner who dares to undertake the dangerous venture. Antonis Ntalakogiorgos from the Panhellenic Seamen's Union condemns these trips. The shipowners were playing with fire. "They are putting the lives of their crews at risk and that is unacceptable and criminal," he said.

But for the shipowners, the risk seems to be worth it, according to Max Johns, professor of maritime management at the Hamburg School of Business Administration. You can currently earn up to $500,000 a day for trips with larger tankers. That's up to ten times what you normally earn from such trips.

“Enormous sums of money”

Orders for new ships and takeovers of older ships from Greek shipowners will exceed 14 billion euros in 2026, according to media reports. Although Greece only has a population of around ten million, it is at the forefront of global transport capacities. 5,800 tankers, 458 million tons of capacity per year - that corresponds to around four times the annual cargo throughput in the port of Hamburg.

Greek journalist Giorgos Fokianos, who specializes in shipping issues, explains: "If you imagine that Greece has 20 percent of global transport capacity, then it becomes clear that we are dealing with enormous amounts of money."

Important economic factor in Greece

The shipping companies account for eight percent of Greece's gross domestic product. Over 200,000 jobs depend on them. They also have many foundations and act as patrons for the construction of schools and hospitals.

The shipowner Evangelos Marinakis, who is also extremely wealthy, regularly appears as a benefactor. Football fans outside of Greece also know him as co-owner of the Olympiakos Piraeus football club, and he also owns the British club Nottingham Forrest. He has just financed the cleaning of the marble stages in the historic Olympic Stadium in Athens. He donates food to those in need. His father was also a benefactor and even a member of the Greek parliament. The connections between politics and shipping companies are close.

Marinakis also owns a large media company - and he is not the only shipowner who is active with media companies. There is no evidence of attempts to influence politics and public opinion. But the fact is: the Greek shipping companies are always able to assert their interests.

Government in Athens protects the industry

This became particularly clear during the Greek financial crisis, when shipowners were largely able to maintain their privileges while citizens and companies had to endure harsh austerity measures.

However, it is not true that the Greek shipowners paid no taxes at all. Greece was the first country to introduce a special tax, the tonnage tax, shortly after the Second World War. It suits shipowners because it is low. It was supposed to keep them in the country at that time.

According to Max Johns, you can imagine the model as a kind of flat rate: "You pay the same tax every year, regardless of whether you make profits or losses, and this tax is based on the size of the ship." This tonnage tax is now common throughout Europe, including Germany.

EU sanctions against Russia blocked

Another example. When the EU wanted to draw up a new package of sanctions against Russia in July, the Greeks blocked it. The draft intended to make it significantly more difficult or to ban EU ships from transporting Russian LNG to third countries.

The shipowners were able to prevail - there are now exceptions for them. Since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Greek shipping companies have been operating in a kind of gray zone. Not only do they transport Russian oil, but they also sell old tankers that would often have been scrapped in the past; to Russia.