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Table 1-4Top 20 Ranking of World Merchant Fleet by Country of Registry as of January 1, 2001a

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Table 1-4
Top 20 Ranking of World Merchant Fleet by Country of Registry as of January 1, 2001a

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  Tanker Dry bulk Container Otherb Total
Number of vessels dwt (thousands) Number of vessels dwt (thousands) Number of vessels dwt (thousands) Number of vessels dwt (thousands) Number of vessels dwt (thousands)
Panamac 1,089 57,641 1,379 81,447 500 14,578 1,689 14,385 4,657 168,052
Liberiac 592 44,256 370 22,676 229 6,956 307 4,814 1,498 78,703
Maltac 350 21,502 437 18,238 50 871 558 5,230 1,395 45,841
Bahamasc 262 27,941 140 8,123 56 1,575 565 7,461 1,023 45,099
Greece 281 26,400 259 14,272 46 1,794 108 838 694 43,304
Cyprusc 172 7,912 461 20,062 125 2,809 549 5,441 1,307 36,224
Singaporec 396 17,874 128 8,516 172 4,051 185 2,654 881 33,096
Norway (NIS)c 307 17,481 88 6,928 5 102 259 3,675 659 28,186
China 261 3,626 326 10,800 103 1,782 758 5,955 1,448 22,163
Hong Kongc 35 1,255 193 12,353 53 1,611 55 1,189 336 16,409
United States 142 8,447 15 604 90 3,058 207 3,721 454 15,830
Japan 253 8,291 154 5,645 23 691 191 975 621 15,602
Marshall Islandsc 94 11,062 64 3,514 25 760 12 166 195 15,501
India 101 5,212 115 4,521 8 152 70 550 294 10,435
Italy 221 4,248 42 3,637 22 696 121 1,162 406 9,742
Philippines 66 284 166 7,616 7 80 218 1,625 457 9,606
Saint Vincentc 96 1,085 129 4,607 27 176 509 3,722 761 9,590
Bermuda 27 4,840 28 3,699 16 459 34 363 105 9,361
Turkey 92 1,142 152 5,986 21 213 269 1,538 534 8,879
Republic of Korea 129 1,384 99 5,054 45 836 207 1,085 480 8,360
Total of top 20 4,966 271,880 4,745 248,299 1,623 43,253 6,871 66,551 18,205 629,983
Total of all flags 7,079 328,944 5,628 280,237 2,561 67,930 13,050 99,656 28,318 776,767

aOceangoing self-propelled vessels of 1,000 gross tons and above. U.S. data in this table differ from data in Table 1-7 because, in order to facilitate country comparisons, vessel size is limited here.

bBreakbulk ships, partial containerships, refrigerated cargo ships, barge carriers, cruise/passenger, and specialized cargo ships.

cOpen registry-a term used to denote a type of registry offered by a country to foreign nationals or corporations that provides favorable tax, regulatory, and other incentives.

KEY: NIS = Norweigan International Shipping Registry.

SOURCE: Lloyd's Maritime Information Services, Ship Particulars, computer file extract (London: Lloyd's Register, January 2001).

  • Eight of the top 10 registries are open registries.
  • The top five registries account for nearly half (49 percent) of the total world merchant fleet deadweight.