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Table 1-23: Number and Size of the U.S. Flag Merchant Fleet and Its Share of the World Fleet (Oceangoing ships of 1,000 gross tons and over)

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 1-23: Number and Size of the U.S. Flag Merchant Fleet and Its Share of the World Fleet (Oceangoing ships of 1,000 gross tons and over)

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
World fleet 17,317 18,329 19,980 22,872 24,867 25,555 23,596 25,608 26,858 27,557 27,825 28,259 28,318 28,296
U.S. fleet 2,926 2,376 1,579 857 864 737 636 509 495 477 470 463 454 443
U.S. share of the world fleet 17% 13% 8% 4% 3% 3% 3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2%
Freighters, total 2,138 1,747 1,076 511 471 417 367 295 292 288 289 284 286 283
Deadweight tons (DWT) (thousands) 21,877 18,127 11,733 7,051 6,885 7,353 7,265 6,517 6,419 6,458 6,732 6,696 6,680 6,635
General cargoa N N N 356 259 209 166 142 146 142 140 137 136 132
DWT (thousands) N N N 4,640 3,329 2,980 2,605 2,472 2,467 2,420 2,400 2,404 2,362 2,162
Containership N N N 109 121 104 92 81 83 85 91 89 90 91
DWT (thousands) N N N 1,773 2,289 2,651 2,856 2,600 2,639 2,743 3,096 3,056 3,058 3,200
Partial containerships N N N 37 68 63 59 3 1 1 N N N N
DWT (thousands) N N N 510 940 904 836 57 17 17 N N N N
RO / RO N N N 9 23 41 50 69 62 60 58 58 60 60
DWT (thousands) N N N 128 327 818 968 1,388 1,296 1,278 1,236 1,236 1,260 1,273
Tankers, total 422 341 294 267 308 258 233 181 173 161 154 154 142 130
DWT (thousands) 7,815 7,561 7,739 9,711 16,152 15,534 15,641 11,028 10,378 9,696 9,289 9,373 8,447 7,532
Petroleum/chemical shipsb N N N N N 244 219 167 159 148 145 146 142 130
DWT (thousands) N N N N N 14,574 14,681 10,123 9,473 8,857 8,737 8,845 8,447 7,532
Liquefied petroleum/natural gas ships N N N N N 14 14 14 14 13 9 8 N N
DWT (thousands) N N N N N 960 960 905 905 839 552 528 N N
Combination / passenger and cargo, total 309 227 171 60 65 37 10 13 15 14 12 11 11 13
DWT (thousands) 2,070 1,488 1,107 388 446 299 91 115 139 136 116 99 99 105
Bulk carriers, total 57 61 38 19 20 25 26 20 15 14 15 14 15 17
DWT (thousands) 805 1,107 767 544 607 1,152 1,270 925 575 321 604 579 604 706

KEY: N = data do not exist; RO/RO = roll-on/roll-off vessels.

a Includes barge carriers.

b Includes integrated tug/barges.

NOTES

Excludes nonmerchant type and/or U.S. Navy-owned vessels currently in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

Excludes ships operating exclusively on the Great Lakes and inland waterways and special types such as: channel ships, icebreakers, cable ships, and merchant ships owned by military forces. All data are as of December 31 of year shown.

SOURCES

1960-2000: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Merchant Fleets of the World (Washington, DC: Annual issues), and unpublished revisions.

2001: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, personal communication, Aug. 27, 2002.