USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 1-5Top 20 Ranking of World Merchant Fleet by Country of Owner as of January 1, 2001a

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Table 1-5
Top 20 Ranking of World Merchant Fleet by Country of Owner as of January 1, 2001a

Excel | CSV

  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)
Greece 793 63,137 1,341 66,301 136 3,815 809 8,678 3,079 141,931
Japan 723 37,343 794 45,304 193 5,400 945 8,793 2,655 96,839
Norway 481 36,842 179 11,203 21 667 588 8,615 1,269 57,327
United States 413 32,902 126 6,187 100 3,235 399 5,425 1,038 47,749
China 293 6,135 556 22,524 182 3,677 920 7,530 1,951 39,867
Hong Kong 120 14,355 237 17,609 49 1,505 124 1,789 530 35,258
Germany 162 3,880 110 4,834 650 16,427 857 6,141 1,779 31,282
Korea (South) 194 6,816 194 14,076 103 2,607 307 1,847 798 25,345
Singapore 319 11,983 91 3,314 122 2,535 162 1,454 694 19,286
Taiwan 34 2,483 147 8,292 195 6,565 129 1,069 505 18,410
Denmark 165 8,073 32 2,127 120 5,217 264 1,458 581 16,875
United Kingdom 146 7,259 60 4,574 90 3,295 215 1,605 511 16,733
Russia 344 6,425 127 2,722 34 800 1,101 4,298 1,606 14,245
Italy 239 5,129 70 5,440 11 269 146 1,743 466 12,581
India 112 5,539 125 5,363 3 87 65 654 305 11,643
Saudi Arabia 70 9,763 1 2 5 248 26 460 102 10,474
Sweden 134 7,920 11 464 1 11 172 1,746 318 10,142
Turkey 84 1,140 153 5,724 24 235 249 1,557 510 8,656
Iran 33 4,124 47 1,916 7 180 53 899 140 7,120
Switzerland 45 1,354 46 2,181 74 2,328 72 875 237 6,738
Total of top 20 4,904 272,601 4,447 230,166 2,120 59,105 7,603 66,635 19,074 628,501
Total of all flags 7,079 328,944 5,628 280,237 2,561 67,930 13,050 99,656 28,318 776,767

aBased on parent company nationality.

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

KEY: dwt = deadweight tons.

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

  • Greek owners account for about 18 percent of the total world fleet capacity.
  • German owners account for the largest national share of the world containership fleet-about 24 percent.
  • The United States ranks 4th as a fleet owner (down from 3rd in 1997).