Greece eyes London-based shipowners, shipping insurers

ATHENS: The Greek government wants to persuade shipowners and shipping-insurance companies based in London to move their European Union headquarters to Greece as the United Kingdom prepares to exit the bloc.

“We’re in contact with five large ship-insurance brokers who are considering various EU member countries for the transfer of their headquarters,” said Shipping Minister Panagiotis Kouroumblis in an interview in Piraeus, Greece’s biggest port.

“We’ll meet by the latest in June to discuss the terms they’d like in order to choose Greece,” he said.

The government has also asked Greek shipowners to consider returning their headquarters to Greece after Brexit, even though the country can offer little in the way of financial incentives given its tight financial situation, said the minister.

Greece will instead attempt to appeal to the shipowners’ patriotism, he said.

Greece is the world’s largest ship-owning nation, accounting for over 16 per cent of the global merchant fleet ahead of Japan and China, according to the United Nations. Greek-owned vessels account for 22 per cent of the world fleet and 50 per cent of the EU’s maritime carrying capacity, Kouroumblis said.

The government wants Piraeus to become “one of the world’s largest shipping centres and a modern maritime cluster,” he said. “We want to create a service centre for shipping in Piraeus.” Bloomberg