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Table 7-3
World Merchant Fleet, 10,000 Deadweight Tons and Above by Top 25 Flag and Type, 2006

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Flag of Registry 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 Panama 672 61,267,978 1,718 112,676,858 541 1,601,251 22,132,290 244 3,852,650 240 3,507,351 3,415 203,437,127
2 Liberia 565 50,608,159 331 19,936,853 415 1,253,420 16,727,439 37 565,767 62 994,530 1,410 88,832,748
3 Greece 235 30,139,575 269 19,437,133 44 159,450 2,215,783 1 10,270 6 97,195 555 51,899,956
4 Hong Kong 87 11,426,647 496 32,532,381 81 272,804 3,636,167 5 83,780 52 1,060,788 721 48,739,763
5 Bahamas 235 26,413,600 319 16,175,530 68 190,795 2,692,249 30 609,661 77 1,020,756 729 46,911,796
6 Marshall Is. 335 31,943,749 153 9,264,175 118 293,241 3,860,304 5 77,182 32 903,724 643 46,049,134
7 Singapore 289 26,223,289 180 12,336,140 177 352,390 5,029,292 30 586,127 23 457,200 699 44,632,048
8 Malta 185 13,370,377 438 19,482,921 48 85,324 1,311,048 8 94,947 66 1,094,436 745 35,353,729
9 Cyprus 93 6,241,801 373 18,742,535 139 285,967 3,910,717 6 96,956 85 1,461,497 696 30,453,506
10 China P.R. 127 6,333,829 372 14,551,392 87 229,053 3,224,260 7 95,225 210 3,291,531 803 27,496,237
11 Norwegian Int’l 215 10,578,951 104 7,222,535 1 2,835 33,855 48 1,025,810 2 22,140 370 18,883,291
12 Isle of Man 112 8,828,365 42 3,466,291 15 38,315 549,409 0 0 8 133,232 177 12,977,297
13 United States 93 5,418,247 62 2,391,658 75 226,185 3,065,859 55 1,386,308 8 186,473 293 12,448,545
14 India 118 8,704,380 76 3,575,699 4 6,233 99,612 0 0 3 61,020 201 12,440,711
15 Germany 18 659,091 5 502,546 248 825,787 10,896,410 3 36,200 3 53,316 277 12,147,563
16 Italy 125 5,109,928 40 3,126,922 25 67,811 926,928 52 977,020 6 69,787 248 10,210,585
17 South Korea 10 571,390 122 8,313,809 35 78,868 1,125,888 3 67,559 7 102,512 177 10,181,158
18 Japan 48 5,310,415 48 3,961,802 11 35,180 518,994 15 227,094 1 10,756 123 10,029,061
19 Iran 35 6,170,089 40 1,789,317 11 30,748 408,942 0 0 32 654,009 118 9,022,357
20 United Kingdom 53 2,105,500 21 1,587,552 104 350,641 4,609,620 20 289,489 10 148,245 208 8,740,406
21 Danish Int’l 41 2,680,880 4 321,829 78 380,913 5,473,985 4 41,299 7 101,085 134 8,619,078
22 St. Vincent & G. 12 620,961 119 5,106,973 4 3,374 50,173 2 40,929 79 1,522,081 216 7,341,117
23 Belgium 22 4,308,245 16 2,285,998 5 11,186 161,820 0 0 0 0 43 6,756,063
24 Bermuda 23 2,121,524 26 3,626,865 19 41,961 620,046 2 28,015 15 187,772 85 6,584,222
25 Malaysia 65 4,811,853 24 856,210 27 43,827 660,157 1 11,179 5 73,485 122 6,412,884
  Top 25 registries 3,813 331,968,823 5,398 323,271,924 2,380 6,867,559 93,941,247 578 10,203,467 1,039 17,214,921 13,208 776,600,382
  All registries 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 85.6% 90.2% 85.3% 90.3% 83.9% 88.6% 88.4% 82.2% 82.1% 69.5% 71.3% 83.5% 89.4%

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

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

  • Panama and Liberia have open registry fleets. An open registry is type of registry offered by a country to foreign nationals or corporations that provides favorable tax, regulatory, and other incentives.
  • The United States ranks 13th in terms of flag of registry. Thirty-two percent of the U.S.-flag are tankers while 26% are containerships.
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