Greece Leads Global Fleet in Cargo Ships

Greece leads the world fleet in cargo carrying capacity with 309 million of deadweight tonnage(dwt), with Japan, China, Germany and Singapore completing the top five.

Together, these five countries have a market share of 49.5 percent of dwt, according to a Maritime Executive report. The Greek cargo fleet has 4,199 vessels.

Only one country from Latin America; Brazil, is among the top 35 ship owning countries; none are from Africa.

In terms of vessel numbers, China is the leading ship owning country (5,206 ships of 1,000 gross tons and above), including many smaller ships deployed in coastal shipping.

Regarding estimated commercial value, the U.S. fleet leads with 96 billion dollars, followed by Japan, Greece, China and Norway. The average value per ship of owners from Qatar is $75 million, reflecting its fleet of expensive liquefied natural gas tankers and other specialized tankers.

In comparison, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam own fleets with low unit values. Indonesian-owned fleets have an average commercial value of $3.6 million per vessel.

Source: GreekReporter