Not even half of all commercial ships owned by wealthy Greek shipowners are sailing under the Greek flag according to the CIA's 2013 "World Fact book". The fact book is full of information on 267 countries, including each countries history, its geography, its population composition, politics and central government, economy, telecommunications, transportation, and even national issues.
According to the CIA, Greek shipowners allegedly control 3,319 merchant ships worldwide of various types and capacities. Of these, only 860 are registered in Greece, or sail under the Greek flag.
Instead, Greek shipowners prefer countries such as Liberia (which is noted as being first with 505 ships), followed by Malta with 469 ships, the Marshall Islands with 408 ships, Panama with 379 ships, 225 ships are registered in the Bahamas while 201 ships are registered in Cyprus. The remaining amount merchant ships are said to be registered in various other countries.
Based on its calculations, the CIA report says that Greece is ranked 12th in the world, based on the commercial ships that sail under the Greek flag, even though Greek ship owners are the fourth axis of power in the maritime world on this globe.
This information just once again confirms that the majority of Greek shipowners prefer tax havens to countries that actually demand them to pay taxes. The Greek tax system (and/or Greek tax payers) grant these shipowners numerous exemptions every year so that they can continue to sail under the Greek flag, but it is still not enough for them. Every year they increase their demands for even more tax breaks, and sometimes they openly threaten our leaders that they will move their operations elsewhere (or basically sail under another flag) if they are pushed too far.
Who cares if Greece is suffering from an economic crisis, they will continue to push for the preservation of their privileges year after year, after year, "bargaining" with the Greek flag.
It is obvious that the privileges of Greek shipowners remain a "non-negotiable" subject in this country and that is why the rights of the people in areas such as health, education, decent living are generally slaughtered.
Quite interestingly HellasFrappe published a Wikileaks cable about Greek shipowners a little over a year ago.
In that article we discovered that the term Illuminati is not only used by wacky conspiracy theorists. The article features a Wikileaks cable, published by the Italian zazoom blog, which gives a clear reference to the word 'Illuminati' and describes Greek shipowners as being the "key players" in Greek politics.(Click here to read)
The cable addresses a meeting by the author with a newly appointed ambassador to Greece a little after George Papandreou won the 2009 national elections. The cable does not hide the US's satisfaction over Papandreou's victory either, and shockingly describes the administration of former prime minister Costas Karamanlis as being "moribund".
Andrew: Welcome to Greece. Your visit comes at a time calm between two storms; the first being the recently concluded Parliamentary elections in which PM Papandreou scored a decisive victory over the moribund Karamanlis administration, and the second being Greece's dismal economic situation which will limit Papandreou's hand internationally, and create a tough domestic political environment for him when his post-electoral "honeymoon" is over. You will also be meeting with Ministers and officials new to their portfolios and offices and in some instances, working in new hybrid ministries created through the mergers and combing of responsibilities of existing ministries. Remember our bureaucratic challenges in the creation of the Department of Homeland Security only now "a la Greece" immediately following a transition in power - and you will have a picture of the unsettled nature of many components of Papandreou's new government.
2. (C) That said, we have an excellent opportunity to ingrain our piracy message early into the minds of our new interlocutors in the government, and the AMVR Awards ceremony where you will speak affords a prime venue to deliver that message t the Illuminati of the Greek shipping sector - a key player in ultimately moving any Greek governmental policy on the issue. I believe you will find that your interlocutors value their cooperation both with the US and the broader international community on counter-piracy, but will respectfully disagree with you on thorny legal issues such as prosecution and the relevance of the New York Declaration. If you can help the Greeks understand where we want to be bilaterally and multilaterally on piracy over the coming six months, gain some traction on the Declaration, and launch a dialogue that we can continue on the ground here, your visit will have been a success.
Sources:
http://www.newsbomb.gr/naytilia/story/369053/cia-poy-einai-niologimena-ta-ploia-ton-ellinon-efopliston
http://www.zazoom.it/blog_rsc/post.asp?id=6678
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2012/03/wikileaks-greek-shipowners-illuminati.html
Posts
