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Do not fill this in! === Maritime industry === {{Main|Greek shipping|List of ports in Greece}} {{See also|Economy of Greece#Maritime industry|label 1=Economy of Greece » Maritime industry}} [[File:Greek tanker ship.png|thumb|[[Greek Merchant Navy|Greek companies]] control 21% of the world's total [[merchant fleet]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newmoney.gr/roh/palmos-oikonomias/nautilia/korifea-naftiliaki-chora-ston-kosmo-parameni-i-ellada-to-21-tou-pagkosmiou-stolou-me-5-514-plia/|title=Κορυφαία ναυτιλιακή χώρα στον κόσμο παραμένει η Ελλάδα – Το 21% του παγκόσμιου στόλου με 5.514 πλοία|trans-title=Greece remains the world's leading shipping country – 21% of the world fleet with 5,514 ships|website=NewMoney.gr|date=20 May 2022|access-date=9 April 2023|language=Greek}}</ref> making it the largest in the world. They are ranked in the top 5 for all kinds of ships, including first for tankers and bulk carriers.]] The shipping industry has been a key element of Greek economic activity since ancient times.<ref name="shipping">{{cite web|url=http://www.greece.org/poseidon/work/articles/polemis_one.html |title=The History of Greek Shipping |author=Polemis, Spyros M. |publisher=greece.org |access-date=9 April 2007}}</ref> Shipping remains one of the country's most important industries, accounting for 4.5 percent of GDP, employing about 160,000 people (4 percent of the workforce), and representing a third of the trade deficit.<ref name=nbg>{{cite web|author=Press release |url=http://www.nbg.gr/en/pr_release_resb.asp?P_ID=463 |publisher=[[National Bank of Greece]] |title=Greek Shipping Is Modernized To Remain a Global Leader and Expand Its Contribution to the Greek Economy |date=11 May 2006 |access-date=8 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070831114031/http://www.nbg.gr/en/pr_release_resb.asp?P_ID=463 |archive-date=31 August 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to the UN the [[Greek Merchant Navy]] is the largest in the world at 18% of global capacity.<ref name="auto"/> The country's merchant fleet ranks first in total tonnage (384 million [[Deadweight tonnage|dwt]]), 2nd in total number of ships (at 4,870),<ref name="auto"/> first in both [[tanker (ship)|tankers]] and dry bulk carriers, fourth in the number of containers, and fifth in other ships.<ref name="BTS">{{cite web|url=http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/maritime_trade_and_transportation/2007/html/table_02_01.html|title=Top 15 Ranking of World Merchant Fleet by Country of Owner, Year-End 2006|publisher=U.S. [[Bureau of Transportation Statistics]]|year=2001|access-date=11 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029205740/http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/maritime_trade_and_transportation/2007/html/table_02_01.html|archive-date=29 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, today's fleet roster is smaller than an all-time high of 5,000 ships in the late 1970s.<ref name=shipping /> Additionally, the total number of ships flying a Greek flag (includes non-Greek fleets) is 1,517, or 5 percent of the world's dwt (ranked fifth globally). During the 1960s, the size of the Greek fleet nearly doubled, primarily through the investment undertaken by the shipping magnates, [[Aristotle Onassis]] and [[Stavros Niarchos]].<ref name="slate">{{cite magazine |url = http://www.slate.com/?id=2124542& |title= So Many Greek Shipping Magnates... |author= Engber, Daniel |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date= 17 August 2005 |access-date= 5 August 2011}}</ref> The basis of the modern Greek maritime industry was formed after World War II when Greek shipping businessmen were able to amass surplus ships sold to them by the U.S. government through the Ship Sales Act of the 1940s.<ref name=slate /> Greece has a significant shipbuilding and ship maintenance industry. The six shipyards around the port of Piraeus are among the largest in Europe.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jill Dubois|author2=Xenia Skoura|author3=Olga Gratsaniti|title=Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVzthRVC_SMC&pg=PA42|access-date=14 April 2013|year=2003|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-1499-5|page=42|quote=Greek ships make up 70 percent of the European Union's total merchant fleet. Greece has a large shipbuilding and ship refitting industry. Its six shipyards near Piraeus are among the biggest in Europe. As Greek ships primarily transport ...}}</ref> In recent years, Greece has also become a leader in the construction and maintenance of luxury yachts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/216308/article/ekathimerini/business/mega-yacht-owners-choose-greece-for-construction-and-maintenance|title=Mega yacht owners choose Greece for construction and maintenance, Ilias Bellos | Kathimerini|website=www.ekathimerini.com}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page