Posidonia 2026 Closes on a High: Over 35,000 Visitors and 2,200 Exhibitors Set New Exhibition Records in Hellenic Shipping News 06/06/2026 T he 29th edition of the biennial Posidonia Exhibition closed today at the Athens Metropolitan Expo, cementing its position as the world’s premier maritime business platform and the essential forum for setting the policy agenda of an industry that moves 87% of global trade. Against a backdrop of unprecedented geopolitical and regulatory pressure – from the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz disruptions, protectionist trade policies to the accelerating and controversial IMO 2030/2050 decarbonisation timeline – this year’s event proved that the global shipping community looks to Greek shipping not merely to conduct business, but to find its compass and achieve consensus. The highly anticipated Press Conference of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), held within the framework of Posidonia 2026, brought the proceedings of the global gathering of the shipping community in Greece to a close. In a packed room, with strong attendance by representatives of Greek and international media, the President of the Union of Greek Shipowners, Melina Travlos, answered questions covering the full spectrum of the shipping industry at national, European and international level. The transition to zero-emission shipping was prominent in the agenda across all five days, with the 2026 edition marking the first Posidonia held entirely within the European Union’s Emissions Trading System for shipping – a regulatory reality that has fundamentally altered the economics of vessel operation for European-flagged and European-calling fleets. More than any previous edition, Posidonia 2026 convened against a geopolitical landscape that placed shipping squarely at the intersection of global commerce, security and sovereignty. With seafarer lives increasingly at harms way, supply chains strained, trade routes under threat and tariff regimes in flux, the exhibition floor be