BTS | Table 1-23: Number and Size of the U.S. Flag Merchant Fleet and Its Share of the World Fleet

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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)

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	1980	1985	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
World fleet	24,867	25,555	23,596	23,943	23,753	24,331	25,092	25,608	26,858	27,557	27,825	28,259	28,318	28,296	28,761	28,650
U.S. fleet	864	737	636	619	603	565	543	509	495	477	470	463	454	443	426	416
U.S. share of the world fleet	3%	3%	3%	3%	3%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%	2%	1%	1%
Freighters, total	471	417	367	359	349	322	308	295	292	288	289	284	286	283	276	275
Deadweight tons (DWT) (thousands)	6,885	7,353	7,265	7,156	7,211	7,040	6,866	6,517	6,419	6,458	6,732	6,696	6,680	6,635	6,404	6,538
General cargo^a	259	209	166	165	182	169	152	142	146	142	140	137	136	132	126	124
DWT (thousands)	3,329	2,980	2,605	2,592	2,973	2,913	2,677	2,472	2,467	2,420	2,400	2,404	2,362	2,162	1,838	1,818
Containership	121	104	92	92	83	87	86	81	83	85	91	89	90	91	90	87
DWT (thousands)	2,289	2,651	2,856	2,856	2,722	2,812	2,802	2,600	2,639	2,743	3,096	3,056	3,058	3,200	3,292	3,309
Partial containerships	68	63	59	52	30	3	3	3	1	1	N	N	N	N	N	N
DWT (thousands)	940	904	836	741	456	57	57	57	17	17	N	N	N	N	N	N
RO / RO	23	41	50	50	54	63	67	69	62	60	58	58	60	60	60	64
DWT (thousands)	327	818	968	967	1,060	1,258	1,330	1,388	1,296	1,278	1,236	1,236	1,260	1,273	1,273	1,411
Tankers, total	308	258	233	226	220	210	200	181	173	161	154	154	142	130	120	110
DWT (thousands)	16,152	15,534	15,641	14,993	14,180	13,048	11,945	11,028	10,378	9,696	9,289	9,373	8,447	7,532	6,552	5,828
Petroleum/chemical ships^b	N	244	219	212	206	196	186	167	159	148	145	146	142	130	120	110
DWT (thousands)	N	14,574	14,681	14,033	13,279	12,143	11,040	10,123	9,473	8,857	8,737	8,845	8,447	7,532	6,552	5,828
Liquefied petroleum/natural gas ships	N	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	13	9	8	N	N	N	N
DWT (thousands)	N	960	960	960	901	905	905	905	905	839	552	528	N	N	N	N
Combination / passenger and cargo, total	65	37	10	10	11	12	13	13	15	14	12	11	11	13	12	11
DWT (thousands)	446	299	91	92	97	104	115	115	139	136	116	99	99	105	100	90
Bulk carriers, total	20	25	26	24	23	21	22	20	15	14	15	14	15	17	18	20
DWT (thousands)	607	1,152	1,270	1,014	991	949	1,042	925	575	321	604	579	604	706	797	837

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

^a Includes barge carriers, breakbulk, partial containership, refrigerated cargo, and specialized cargo ships.

^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. Data through 2002 are as of December 31 of the year shown. Beginning in 2003 data are as of October 1.

SOURCES

1960-2002: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, Merchant Fleets of the World (Washington, DC: Annual issues), and unpublished revisions.

2003: U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration, U.S.-Flag Merchant Fleet (Washington, DC: 2004) and personal communication, June 2004.