Merchant fleet
Sources: UNCTADstat -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-; Clarksons Research.
Note: Top three countries in each segment are shown
. Building and recycling are estimated deliveries and demolitions during 2022. Registration and ownership figures refer to the beginning of the year 2023.World fleet development and composition
In January 2023, the world’s merchant fleet consisted of 105 500 vessels of at least 100 gross tons (gtgross tons), of which 56 500 ships were over 1000 gtgross tons. Of the ships built in 2022, in gross tonnage terms, 93 per cent were completed in China, the Republic of Korea or Japan. Ship recycling happened predominately in India, Bangladesh or Pakistan. These economies jointly accounted for 86 per cent of ships recycled (on a gtgross tons basis).
The world fleet reached a carrying capacity of 2.3 billion dead weight tons (dwtdead weight tons) in January 2023, 70 million dwtdead weight tons more than a year ago. Oil tankers, bulk carriers, and container ships accounted for 85 per cent of total capacity. World fleet capacity has expanded at varying rates over time. Growth in dwtdead weight tons averaged a firm annual 7.1 per cent between 2005 and 2010. Reflecting a consolidation in shipbuilding capacity and a downsizing of the ship financing market, the average annual growth has decelerated to 4.1 per cent per year since 2010. For a discussion of recent developments, see -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-.
Source: UNCTADstat -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-; Clarksons Research.
Note: Commercial ships of 100 gtgross tons and above. Beginning-of-year figures.
Geography of the fleet ownership in 2023
Sources: UNCTADstat -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-; Clarksons Research.
Note: Commercial ships of 1000 gtgross tons and above. Beginning-of-year figures.
Just over half of the world’s tonnage was owned by Asian companies. Owners from Europe accounted for 38 per cent and owners from Northern America for 5 per cent.
Greece ranked first with owned ship capacity exceeding 393 million dwtdead weight tons, followed by China (302 million dwtdead weight tons) and Japan (238 million dwtdead weight tons). The total of dwtdead weight tons owned was also above 100 million in both Singapore and Hong Kong (China). The top five ship-owning economies combined accounted for 53 per cent of world fleet tonnage.
Major flags of registration
The country of the flag is not necessarily connected to the nationality of the vessel’s owner. For example, at the beginning of 2023, foreign flags accounted for 87 per cent of the total dwtdead weight tons capacity owned by Greek entities; of the tonnage owned by Japanese entities, 84 per cent was registered under foreign flags.
Liberia (378 million dwtdead weight tons), Panama (365 million dwtdead weight tons), and the Marshall Islands (299 million dwtdead weight tons) represented the leading flags of registration. While the size of the register of Panama has remained almost unchanged over the last decade, the Marshall Islands and Liberia have caught up, with Liberia’s registrations skyrocketing since 2018.
Sources: UNCTADstat -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-; Clarksons Research.
Note: Commercial ships of 100 gtgross tons and above. Beginning-of-year figures. Ranked by the values as of 1 January 2023.
Concepts and definitions
The unit dead weight tons (dwtdead weight tons) is used to indicate the cargo carrying capacity of a ship, while gross tons (gtgross tons) reflects its size. The latter is relevant to measure shipbuilding and recycling activity, while the former is used to capture the capacity to transport cargo.
The presented statistics on fleet registration (the flag of a ship), shipbuilding and recycling cover all commercial ships of 100 gtgross tons and more. The market shares for ownership only cover larger ships of 1000 gtgross tons and above, as the true ownership is not always known for smaller vessels.
Summary tables
Sources: UNCTADstat -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-; Clarksons Research.
Note: Commercial ships of 1000 gtgross tons and above. Beginning-of-year figures.
(Number of vessels)
Sources: UNCTADstat -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-; Clarksons Research.
Note: Commercial ships of 1000 gtgross tons and above.
(Thousands of dead weight tons)
Sources: UNCTADstat -—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—--—
– ‒
- –
—-; Clarksons Research.
Note: Commercial ships of 1000 gtgross tons and above.
References
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.
Donec tincidunt vel mauris a dignissim. Curabitur sodales nunc id vestibulum tempor. Nunc tortor orci, sodales nec eros eget.