Page 153 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - MARTIOS 2023

ANALYSIS

Which types and sizes of ships domi-
nated the maritime transport that
crossed the Mediterranean Sea, and
which countries were their main des-
tinations? How strongly are recent
developments reflected in the global
orderbook?

VOYAGES IN THE
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
According to MarineTraffic data pro-
vided exclusively to Naftika Chronika, in
the second half of 2022, 14,450 tanker,
gas carrier, and bulk carrier crossings
through the Strait of Gibraltar and the
Bosphorus Strait were recorded. 66%
(9,540) concerned ships crossing the
Straits of Gibraltar, while 34% (4,910)
ships crossing the Bosphorus Strait.
For tankers and gas carriers the most
important sea passage throughout the
second half of 2022 was the Strait of
Gibraltar, whereas for bulk carriers the
Bosphorus Strait. Based on MarineTraf-
fic data, in the second half of 2022, no
LNG carriers crossed the Bosphorus
Strait.
Most of the activity in the Strait of
Gibraltar involved tankers. 53% of the
Gibraltar Strait crossings were tanker
MARITIME TRAFFIC: Due to the dramatic changes in maritime crossings, 5% were LNG carrier cross-
ings, 4% were LPG carrier crossings, and
traffic over the past year in the shadow
of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the
38% were bulk carrier crossings. On the
THE IMPACT shipping landscape has seen each of other hand, 91% of ships crossing the
the main types of oceangoing shipping
Bosphorus Strait were bulk carriers,
which is not surprising, given that the
playing an important role. However,
OF THE GEOPOLITICAL amid the ensuing energy and food crisis, crisis in Eastern Europe caused signifi-
cant disruptions to maritime traffic and
LNG carriers, tankers and bulk carriers
the transfer of goods from ports in the
were the types of ships that were most
CRISIS ON THE affected and made the headlines inter- Black Sea was focused on food and fer-
nationally.
tilizer exports.
As the second quarter of 2022 was a
The above is also confirmed by the
MEDITERRANEAN SEA period of adjustment to the new reality sizes of bulk carriers that crossed the
of maritime trade, shipping traffic in the
Bosphorus Strait: 76% were Handysize
second half is particularly interesting. bulk carriers, and 12% were Handymax
The three critical factors that shaped bulk carriers, which means that only 12%
by Manos Charitos the maritime freight map were the bar- were medium-to-large and large-size
rage of LNG carrier arrivals in Europe, bulk carriers. In addition, the tankers
the bulk carriers that left the Black Sea that crossed the Bosphorus were also
under the Ukrainian grain export agree- small-size vessels. None of the tankers
ment, and the transportation of Russian was of over 60,000 dwt capacity.
oil to the East. Clearly, a significant proportion of
Amid the ongoing changes severely smaller-size vessel activity is to be
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most important geographical regions for global mar- impacting maritime trade - notably the expected, given that small-size vessels
itime trade as three critical sea passages are located within it, i.e. the Suez Canal, embargo and caps on Russian oil and its usually travel distances and make a
the Bosphorus Strait and the Strait of Gibraltar. Thousands of different ships sail derivatives - the next day for shipping greater number of voyages than larger
across its waters each year on their way to one of the hundreds of ports worldwide. traffic appears turbulent. vessels over the same period.

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