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Just a day after the fateful meeting of minister Giorgos Stathakis with the President of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), Theodoros Veniamis, and his deputy Michalis Chandris, the industry sent a clear message of its will to remain (for now) in Greece.

What the two men heard from the minister is that "the preservation and strengthening of the fleet under the Greek flag and of the shipping companies in Greece is a priority for the Ministry of Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism; it is an essential prerequisite enabling the Greek commercial fleet to keep occupying a top place in the industry."

The talks of the meeting were published shortly after it finished, and the news quickly hit company offices in Piraeus and Athens.

The news triggered a positive response from the industry, which has had its concerns about staying competitive.

A number of Greek shipping companies proceeded to create parallel new subsidiaries in Cyprus, but they say they won't use them if Greek taxation on shipping remains stable.

This question seems to excite everyone and is debated across the shipping community. And the reason is because, in the aftermath of Juncker's proposal to tax the commercial fleet, the Greek government chose to remain silent rather than come up with a clear answer.

The situation got even messier when by the deputy minister responsible for the commercial fleet, Thodoris Dritsas, expressed support for the Greek fleet, but was less categorical as far as the taxation in the sector was concerned.

Shortly before the opening of negotiations with the creditors, Giorgos Stathakis clarified the position of the Greek government. He spoke of strengthening both the commercial fleet and the shipping companies in Greece.

The words of Panos Laskaridis of TradeWinds are quite telling: "I will be the last one who would leave Greece." Laskaridis emphasised there has been no sign of tampering with the situation from the government. He slammed the media, as well as some other tycoons for having heated the atmosphere by their pronouncements.

One ship owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said that in practical terms the only thing they did was to open new bank accounts in Cyprus. Another one said they only did it as it was easy and inexpensive to do, with Cyprus being such a close, friendly country.

Other sources emphasized that many companies, which are listed on stock exchanges abroad or partner with funds, were forced to be proactive and present alternative scenarios to investors, to accommodate future developments in Greece.

Industry representatives argue that, apart from the Greek regulation of the sector, the companies are also worried about the country's stability.

To understand the dynamics of the Greek merchant fleet, except that it injects more than €13 billion a year in the Greek economy, it should be borne in mind that vessels, which are Greek-owned and managed by Greek tycoons, constitute 40% of the EU's fleet. Greek ships procure inputs to the energy sectors of the US and China, the two largest economies in the world.

Requests for Cyprus registration

Quite a few of the Greek tycoons claim that the Cyprus registration is their last-ditch stand.

According to TradeWinds, companies that applied for registration in Cyprus are: Star Bulk Shipmanagement Co (Cyprus) and Oceanbulk Container Shipmanagement Co (Cyprus), Safe Bulkers Management, Mantinia Shipping, Navios Shipmanagement and Navios Tankers Management, Laskaridis Shipping (Cyprus), Neda Maritime Agency, New Shipping, Samos Steamship (Cyprus), Empire Bulkers and Alma Maritime, Target Marine Limited, Efshipping Limited, Chandris Shipmanagement (Cyprus), Enesel, Almi Marine (Cyprus), Super-Eco Tankers, Allseas International Shipmanagement (Cyprus), FCN Ship Management, W Marine, Sun Enterprises Limited, Aims Shipping Corp (Cyprus) and Astra Shipmanagement (Cyprus).