Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
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Table 7-4
World Merchant Fleet, 10,000 Deadweight Tons and Above by Top 25 Country of Owner and Type, 2006

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Country Owner Tanker Dry bulk Containership Roll on/Roll off General Cargo Total
No. DWT No. DWT No. TEU DWT No. DWT No. DWT No. DWT
1 Greece 759 71,854,799 1,346 77,970,940 157 426,150 6,177,452 19 303,732 148 2,329,651 2,429 158,636,574
2 Japan 472 45,729,398 1,041 75,233,695 209 652,976 8,953,126 251 3,923,119 86 1,147,608 2,059 134,986,946
3 China P.R. 203 16,444,797 985 51,978,278 198 587,090 8,068,427 10 140,797 342 5,976,615 1,738 82,608,914
4 Germany 136 7,488,584 188 11,207,987 978 2,616,827 34,673,539 5 88,722 105 1,948,837 1,412 55,407,669
5 United States 322 26,029,195 209 10,759,166 53 129,200 1,782,273 69 1,758,069 37 727,146 690 41,055,849
6 Singapore 246 23,815,284 180 10,145,605 101 194,798 2,883,664 2 35,640 32 596,066 561 37,476,259
7 United Kingdom 189 18,993,812 143 10,216,661 100 300,921 4,199,788 14 228,399 37 550,506 483 34,189,166
8 Norway 319 20,600,027 202 10,343,341 8 18,722 290,894 72 1,486,793 37 427,515 638 33,148,570
9 South Korea 70 8,695,015 224 15,881,106 73 181,261 2,543,570 29 492,011 18 277,137 414 27,888,839
10 Taiwan 46 5,794,204 212 14,520,545 202 538,666 7,302,591 1 15,922 14 162,088 475 27,795,350
11 Bermuda 76 17,374,161 13 1,506,173 0 0 0 0 0 2 21,122 91 18,901,456
12 Denmark 92 6,010,180 24 1,139,730 139 580,516 8,175,829 24 328,630 11 168,024 290 15,822,393
13 India 124 9,274,693 106 4,998,474 3 5,607 86,814 0 0 11 182,658 244 14,542,639
14 Italy 161 7,002,027 77 4,988,595 17 48,361 644,258 52 988,303 17 334,792 324 13,957,975
15 Monaco 56 4,420,463 73 5,062,019 44 172,827 2,302,964 3 65,588 2 30,406 178 11,881,440
16 Saudi Arabia 62 11,056,299 0 0 0 0 0 4 170,400 4 77,962 70 11,304,661
17 Cyprus 63 5,060,966 89 3,422,913 50 91,170 1,219,045 7 109,936 28 457,034 237 10,269,894
18 Russia 112 7,485,125 72 1,627,737 15 18,180 263,050 0 0 21 373,108 220 9,749,020
19 Switzerland 31 1,484,077 26 1,281,236 153 458,480 6,509,817 2 44,276 26 417,664 238 9,737,070
20 Iran 37 6,352,744 48 2,260,368 11 30,748 408,942 0 0 31 636,979 127 9,659,033
21 Canada 53 4,732,396 93 3,183,545 14 64,702 771,500 1 15,175 4 86,122 165 8,788,738
22 Turkey 31 1,662,970 147 5,664,450 23 26,526 334,055 10 133,796 19 292,539 230 8,087,810
23 Malaysia 66 4,339,861 8 269,400 28 49,254 744,761 2 25,531 4 61,135 108 5,440,688
24 U.A.E. 60 2,989,794 38 1,778,868 11 12,519 212,501 0 0 12 200,250 121 5,181,413
25 France 36 1,479,318 12 793,790 53 171,842 2,294,334 7 159,717 3 51,008 111 4,778,167
  Top 25 countries 3,822 336,170,189 5,556 326,234,622 2,640 7,377,343 100,843,194 584 10,514,556 1,051 17,533,972 13,653 791,296,533
  Total countries 4,457 368,119,651 6,327 357,806,857 2,837 7,748,373 106,234,517 703 12,427,776 1,495 24,144,412 15,819 868,733,213
  Top 25 % of total 85.8% 91.3% 87.8% 91.2% 93.1% 95.2% 94.9% 83.1% 84.6% 70.3% 72.6% 86.3% 91.1%

KEY: DWT = deadweight ton; TEU = twenty-foot equivalent unit.

SOURCE: Clarkson Research Studies, Vessel Registers, London: Clarkson Shipbrokers.

  • Greek owners account for about 18% of the total world fleet in terms of deadweight tons.
  • German owners account for the largest national share of the world containership about 33% (up from about 24% in 2000).
  • The United States ranks fifth as in fleet ownership (down from 4th in 2000).


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