And while the past four years have seen crisis, operational challenges, dramatic market changes and widespread disruption, with 16.4 per cent of global tonnage on the water, Greek owners retain their pre-eminent position, said the London research house.

"The market leading position is even more remarkable given Greek shipping's role as the ultimate "cross trader" (Greek imports / exports are one per cent of global seaborne trade totals, compared to 23 per cent and five per cent imports for China (15.3 per cent of global fleet by tonnage) and Japan (12.3 per cent of global fleet by tonnage)," said the report.

Greek shipping companies have retained their remarkable scale adding 29 million gross tons to reach 247 million gross tons or 417 million dwt on the water. A long-term focus on tankers (26 per cent global fleet share, 2012: 22 per cent), and bulkers (22 per cent share, now behind China) has continued, with the volatility and asset play opportunities in these markets as attractive as ever.

The Greek share in the global LNG fleet has seen the biggest recent increase, up to 21 per cent today. And with LNG's role in both energy transition and energy security, further growth opportunities seem likely. Some Greek owners have enjoyed the spectacular container markets, and while overall share declined to eight per cent of the box fleet.

Greeks have remained the number one S&P player (involved in 36 per cent of all sales activity as either buyers or sellers by tonnage) but their newbuild orderbook has trended down to only six per cent of their fleet, its lowest ratio for 20 years.