Page 390 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 1

IPS173 Athanasios Petralias et al.
Tracking multinationals’ activities in the shipping
industry: A new statistical framework for the
estimation of sea transport services in the Greek
balance of payments
Athanasios Petralias, PhD & Marios Papaspyrou, PhD
Department of Statistics, Bank of Greece

Abstract
The Greek Shipping Estimation Model aims to provide a coherent statistical
framework to estimate Balance of Payments items related to shipping activity,
based on administrative sources and commercial databases.
Given the multinational nature of the shipping sector and the complex group
structures, the estimation of the shipping activity is one of the most
challenging tasks in terms of official statistics. This is of particular importance
to Greece, since its merchant fleet has a strategic role in the transportation of
the trade and energy of many regions in the world. The statistical framework
presented in the current study, can well be applied by other countries for
Balance of Payments purposes, as well as by researchers and analysts seeking
to estimate revenues and expenses related to shipping activity.
In the Greek Shipping Estimation model a granular level approach is used, with
vessel by vessel characterization. A three-stage approach is taken. Firstly, the
cluster is defined, the main counterparts and the types of Balance of Payments
(BOP) transactions that take place and can be estimated. Secondly, the
population is defined, including legal owner companies, operator/ship-
manager companies and the vessels to be included in the registry. Finally, all
BOP transactions for a particular vessel are estimated on a monthly basis.
The maritime cluster structure is discussed, along with guidelines on how to
define the resident population on basis of the economic ownership principle.
A detailed statistical framework to estimate all shipping related transactions is
presented, including vessels’ revenues, bunkers costs, port expenses, manning
costs, administrative costs and other BOP items. For this purpose a series of
international databases is used including among others Lloyd’s List
intelligence, IHS Maritime and Trade, Clarksons Shipping Intelligence Network
and Drewry.

Keywords
Multinational enterprises; shipping; sea transport services; balance of
payments

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