Merchant fleet

by · June 7, 2021


Map 1. Building, ownership, registration and recycling of ships, 2022
(Main specialization)

Sources: UNCTADstat -—
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—-; Clarksons Research.

Note: Top three countries in each segment are shown in the default selection. 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 (gt), of which 56 500 ships were over 1000 gt. 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 gt basis).

The world fleet reached a carrying capacity of 2.3 billion dead weight tons (dwt) in January 2023, 70 million dwt 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 dwt 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 -—
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Figure 1. World fleet by principal vessel type
(Millions of dead weight tons)

Source: UNCTADstat -—
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Note: Commercial ships of 100 gt and above. Beginning-of-year figures.

Geography of the fleet ownership in 2023

Figure 2. Fleet market by region of beneficial ownership, 2023
(Millions of dead weight tons)

Sources: UNCTADstat -—
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Note: Commercial ships of 1000 gt 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 dwt, followed by China (302 million dwt) and Japan (238 million dwt). The total of dwt 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 dwt capacity owned by Greek entities; of the tonnage owned by Japanese entities, 84 per cent was registered under foreign flags.

Liberia (378 million dwt), Panama (365 million dwt), and the Marshall Islands (299 million dwt) 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.

Figure 3. Vessels capacity in top five registries
(Millions of dead weight tons)

Sources: UNCTADstat -—
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Note: Commercial ships of 100 gt and above. Beginning-of-year figures. Ranked by the values as of 1 January 2023.

Concepts and definitions

The unit dead weight tons (dwt) is used to indicate the cargo carrying capacity of a ship, while gross tons (gt) 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 gt and more. The market shares for ownership only cover larger ships of 1000 gt and above, as the true ownership is not always known for smaller vessels.

Summary tables

Table 1. Merchant fleet registration by group of economies

Sources: UNCTADstat -—
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—-; Clarksons Research.

Note: Commercial ships of 1000 gt and above. Beginning-of-year figures.

    Table 2. Fleet ownership and registration, main economies, 1 January 2023
    Vessels
    (Number of vessels)

    Sources: UNCTADstat -—
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    —-    ; Clarksons Research.

    Note: Commercial ships of 1000 gt and above.

      Tonnage
      (Thousands of dead weight tons)

      Sources: UNCTADstat -—
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      —-      ; Clarksons Research.

      Note: Commercial ships of 1000 gt and above.

        References

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