Greece's New Tax Regime Implemented

Greece's new tax legislation which generates revenue by levying new taxes on nationally-owned, foreign-flagged ships is now in place.

Lloyd's List reports that "theoretically" the Greek flag is poised to benefit from the reforms, though it has not seen any immediate increase in registrations.

The choice of flag is of course affected by additional factors such as efficiency of administration and training programs for national seafarers.

The OGSR reported last month that, while there has been some movement out of the Greek flag among national owners, this trend may shift or have already shifted.

In the past year, Greece has re-instated its standalone Ministry of Shipping, streamlined its registration process and established an electonic registry. The government is expected to address maritime education initiatives in the coming weeks.

Still, open registries continue to offer appealing incentives.

It looks like Greek owners are going to have their usual smörgåsbord of flags to choose from.