The present dissertation is a study of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) in the shipping industry. The shipping sector is a market that attracts a great deal of interest, and has a long history, since the economies of countries have been based on shipping, starting from ancient years. The study comprises a theoretical bibliographic review of the IPOs, with emphasis to the shipping sector. With an introduction to shipping business and its economics, the dissertation describes shipping financial cycles and its characteristics. Further, it is a review of the financing methods in the shipping industry. It utilizes theoretical perspectives in order to unfold the economic bases upon which IPOs are founded and explores IPO phenomena, such as underpricing and long - run performance. The study is a systematic analysis of all related parties in the shipping IPO process and describes the role and the interests of the company that goes public, the bank responsible for the IPO -underwriter- and the investors.