Refreshments at Posidonia’s afterhours parties may offer temporary relief for the mental anguish caused by Greece’s economic crisis but the topic is nearly impossible to avoid.
Many local shipowners are playing down their exposure to the nation’s financial woes, however, as most are organised under the laws of places like the Marshal Islands and several have already taken contingency measures like shifting cash abroad, according to Michael Webber.
In a conference briefing for clients the Wells Fargo Securities analyst urged investors to keep an eye on changes to Greece’s government and tax regime despite the encouraging sentiment as he believes the potential fallout would be difficult for many Athens-based management companies to avoid however unlikely.
“Any potential change in the Greek taxation structure is certainly hazy at best with any incremental tax on ship management arms far from a certainty,” he continued. “That said, given the severity of the crisis and the fragmentation in the Greek shipping markets we believe the situation warrants close monitoring.
“In the conversations we had [with owners at Posidonia], Cyprus' 10% tax rate, versus effectively zero for Greece, came up as a potential threshold for management relocation decisions.”
Webber went on to say he believes hundreds of smaller private Greek owners may find incremental logistical or taxation hurdles more daunting than their larger peers whose shares trade publically on overseas exchanges.
The commentary came as conference attendees loosened their ties in anticipation of another night of festivities that some described as "subdued" when compared to soirees in previous years but extravagant enough that no patrons will go home hungry- or thirsty.
You can check out all the Posidonia excitement by viewing TradeWinds WebTV coverage HERE
