In particular, according to the annual survey of Petrofin Research, bank financing of Greek shipping recorded a particularly impressive increase of 11.5%, raising the total amount of Greek shipping loans (both drawn and approved but undisbursed), which have been registered both in Greece and internationally, to $59.687 billion at the end of 2025. This is the second consecutive year of growth, after 2024 when the total portfolio stood at $54.510 billion. Greek banks, the group with the largest increase, of the order of 34%, showed strong acceleration and continued their upward trend.
Furthermore, Greek banks were able to offer improved lending terms and attracted more business from Greek shipowners, including financing for newbuildings. However, the client LTV of Greek banks remained restrained, notes Petrofin.
In the top five financiers of Greek shipping are four Greek banks. For the first time, National Bank of Greece was at the top with its total portfolio reaching $6.475 billion, while Eurobank follows closely with $6.2 billion, and Piraeus Bank with $6.07 billion is in fourth place. In fifth place on the list is Alpha Bank with $4.6 billion, while UBS, the only non-Greek bank in the top five, is fourth with a portfolio of $5.7 billion.
Alongside these, Aegean Baltic Bank is continuously rising with $526 million, Credia Bank with $476 million, with the highest annual increase on the list of 134.5%, as well as Bank of Cyprus with $450 million.
As Petrofin and Mr. Ted Petropoulos comment, Greek banks were the major protagonists of the market, as they not only occupied the top three positions among all financiers of Greek shipowners, but also recorded an increase in their portfolios from $18.6 billion in 2024 to $25 billion in 2025, i.e., an increase of 34%.
Several factors explain the spectacular expansion of Greek banks’ portfolios. The most important is that Greek banks have proven their long-term commitment and specialization in the sector, thus gaining the trust of shipowners, particularly medium and smaller companies, which place special importance on stable support throughout shipping cycles.
At the same time, the improvement in the credit rating of both Greek banks and Greece allowed Greek banks to offer attractive lending margins and competitive banking fees.
Furthermore, Greek banks began to offer larger credit lines per client, for individual vessels as well as fleets, and particularly for the financing of newbuildings. Thus, Greek shipowners gained the ability to borrow not only from large international banks, but also from Greek banks, which typically provided financing from their own balance sheets and not through syndicated or joint loan schemes.
Finally, Greek banks developed numerous supplementary services and additional sources of revenue for their clients, such as foreign exchange (FX) services, interest rate hedging, private banking, investment products, financing of real estate and hotel units, as well as utilization of retail banking services, deposits and other banking products. The above activities contributed to enhancing the overall return that each Greek bank derives from its Greek clients.
To have more articles from Naftemporiki appear easily and quickly in your searches, you must add the site to your preferred sources. You can do this by going here.
