ATHENS--After years of booming business, the past months -- marked by a financial crisis for the history books and resurgent high seas piracy -- have proven a double headache for Greece's globe-spanning shipowning clans.

Greeks control around 15 percent of world shipping in terms of tonnage -- the largest single bloc as a nation -- and are hence acutely sensitive to the trade slowdown caused by the ongoing credit freeze.

The prospect of now having to navigate longer routes as well to avoid pirate raids off the eastern coast of Africa, a key maritime route to the Suez Canal through which some 30 percent of the world's oil is transported, is highly unwelcome.

"We are considering whether to avoid the Gulf of Aden altogether and go around the Cape of Good Hope instead," says George Vakirtzis, the managing director of Polembros Shipping Ltd.

"This means an extra two to two-and-a-half weeks on the voyage...but we have the safety of our crews to consider," he told AFP.

Nearly 40 ships have been seized by pirates in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean so far this year according to the International Maritime Bureau, and close to 100 attacks have been recorded in total.

"The more you allow these attacks to continue, the higher the chance of trouble breaking out in other areas like Nigeria and the Moluccas," says Vakirtzis.

"Piracy has become worse than ever," says George Vlachos, the head of the Greek masters and mates union (PEPEN).

"We were used to them boarding the ship and stealing money, valuables and a video recorder, but now the whole game has changed."

As Somali pirates startled the industry last week by capturing the Saudi super tanker Sirius Star, the biggest ship ever hijacked, the European Union was making ready to send out its first-ever naval deterrent to the area under the command of a Greek commodore.

But the shipping companies note that the area in question is simply too large to police effectively, arguing instead in favor of armed convoys.

For some, the effect of these attacks on the industry is negligible compared to that of the financial crisis.

"The economic impact of piracy is minimal," says Primera Maritime technical manager Dimitris Vintzilaios. "A small percentage of the industry is affected, even if there has been a dramatic rise in incidents."

In contrast, the credit shortage "is the worst I've seen in 35 years" and caught much of the industry unawares, he notes.

"There were signs in the summer but we all thought the market was adjusting. Then we woke up in September with a knife under our throats," Vintzilaios said.

As market confidence plummeted, credit for goods purchases dried up and demand for imported materials fell, carrying freight rates with it.

"The credit crunch affected world trade, which affected freight rates, which affected ship value, which will in turn affect shipyards," says Michalis Kokkinis, the CEO of sell and purchase brokers Golden Destiny.

Bulk carriers and container ships have been hit the hardest, with tankers so far saved by high demand for fuel in mid-winter.

In June, a bulk carrier of 100-150,000 tonnes earned $120,000-$140,000 (96,000-112,000 euros) a day, Kokkinis said. It now earns between $3,000 and $7,000, in many cases less than its daily expenses.

In addition, new ships built after 2000 have lost a third of their value since June, while older ships built in the 1980s are down to a seventh of their original value, he notes.

At the main Greek port of Piraeus, the authorities are bracing for an increase in idle ships as companies seek to cut their operating costs.

"We have noted a rise in the number of ships coming to anchor here," a merchant marine ministry source said, adding: "There's probably dozens of idle ships around Greek harbors right now."

But even in the midst of a crisis, there is a glimmer of optimism in an industry that always seems to find ways to rebound from its lows.

"The crisis has a positive effect," says Ted Petropoulos, managing director of financial consultants Petrofin.

"Many ships which had been commissioned will not be built, and others will be sold for scrap. This will reduce the high order book, something which will begin to be felt from 2010 onwards.

"If all these ships had been built, we would have had an excess of supply. There is a smaller chance of that now."

"The shipping industry will take a long time to recover," Vakirtzis of Polembros said. "But it is an opportunity to do a bit of self-cleaning."