A modern financial manager plays a major role in developing a modern and successful company. The basic principle of maximizing shareholder welfare provides a criterion for successful business operations and efficient distribution of assets in the company and is used as a strategic goal when deciding on the financing method. The financing decision refers to the determination, i.e. choosing the best financing combination or the capital structure required for acquisition of assets. There is a wide range of sources of funding available, and each source has certain characteristics that should not be neglected in order to determine the best financial structure for the company. In financing the shipping industry, company owners and managers are faced, particularly in the conditions of the global crisis, with limited availability of traditional sources of financing investments to build new ships. The subject of the research focuses on the structure and impact of the sources and the choices of financing methods to the success of the shipping company's business, i.e. on the answer to the question of how the choice of capital structure affects the long-term success of shipping companies. The conducted research has found that the global crisis and limited funding sources after the crisis had a major impact on the success of Croatian shipowners' business.