\n<\/p>\n
The shift is being driven by more than Greece\u2019s stable legal and tax regime for shipping. Shipowners are also looking for a European listing venue that can act as a financial back door, or \u201cplan B,\u201d if geopolitics sour. Repeated trade clashes and tariffs between the United States and China, together with London\u2019s gradual loss of pull after Brexit, are pushing companies toward a euro-area exchange seat.<\/p>\n
That is the opening Euronext wants. Since taking control of the Athens Exchange, the group has set out to make the Greek market the \u201cstock-exchange home\u201d of Greek shipowners, copying the specialised investor base that turned Oslo into Europe\u2019s established shipping market.<\/p>\n
The courtship has been deliberate. It began in 2021 with corporate bonds from groups including Costamare, Capital Product Partners and Safe Bulkers, which introduced the sector to domestic investors. Equity has followed this year. Safe Bulkers, controlled by Polys Hajioannou, became the first to take a dual listing in the summer of 2026, keeping its New York listing while adding Athens. Star Bulk Carriers followed in September, raising $125 million.<\/p>\n
Capital Maritime Finance Corp. is next. A prospectus for an initial public offering is expected in the coming days, with the company targeting up to \u20ac200 million.<\/p>\n
At Star Bulk\u2019s Euronext Athens ceremony, founder and chief executive Petros Pappas appeared alongside Spyros Capralos, chairman of the Star Bulk Carriers board. The listing is being read in the market as more than a one-off: Greek owners control about a fifth of the world fleet, and Euronext\u2019s bet is that a critical mass of names can create the kind of specialised following Oslo already has.<\/p>\n
The money is already moving around the sector. Bank credit to Greek shipping stood at $59.68 billion, of which Greek banks accounted for $24.8 billion. Specialist lenders are also adding exposure. Macquarie, which finances owners including Atlas Maritime and Technomar, increased its Greek portfolio by 51.02 percent between 2024 and 2025, with credits exceeding $1 billion by August 2026.<\/p>\n
Advisers are following the ships. Norway\u2019s Fearnley Securities is opening an investment-banking hub aimed at Greek clients, part of a wider cluster of brokers, lawyers and insurers gathering around Piraeus and Athens.<\/p>\n
None of this makes Athens Oslo yet. Oslo has decades of shipping listings and a deep pool of dedicated investors. What Athens has, and Oslo does not, is physical proximity to the operating centre of the Greek-owned fleet. Euronext\u2019s wager is that dual listings, a European \u201cplan B,\u201d and a handful of successful deals can turn that advantage into a market.<\/p>\n
Source: Ilias G. Bellos, \u201c\u03a0\u03ce\u03c2 \u03b7 \u0391\u03b8\u03ae\u03bd\u03b1 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u03ad\u03c0\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c3\u03b5\u2026 \u038c\u03c3\u03bb\u03bf \u03c4\u03b7\u03c2 \u039c\u03b5\u03c3\u03bf\u03b3\u03b5\u03af\u03bf\u03c5,\u201d Kathimerini, Business, 3 October 2026.<\/p>\n