Official Statistics

Shipping fleet statistics: 2023

Published 6 March 2024

About this release

This statistical release presents summary statistics for UK and world shipping fleets. It provides different measures of UK shipping interests, set in the global context, including analyses by country of registration (flag) and trading vessel type. Every merchant ship must be registered in a country (the ‘flag state’) and ship registration can, in part, be considered as an indicator of the overall health of a country’s maritime sector. All figures are based on vessels of 100 gross tonnes or over. Other variables and a longer time series are available in accompanying data tables.

Changes to the shipping fleet release

This release presents figures from 2 different data sources, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) official UK Ship Register (UKSR) data and commercially procured world shipping fleet data to put the UK fleet in the context of the global fleet.

The Department for Transport procure world shipping fleet data via open competition. In April 2022 the contract was awarded to Sea/ by Maritech for the first time. Therefore, the world fleet information from December 2022 onwards used in this release is based on data supplied by Sea/ while previous years are based on data provided by IHS.

UK shipping interests covered in section 3 has been updated and revamped in this release looking at different aspects of shipping ownership, however, data is not available for 2022. More details about the changes to our data can be found in notes and definitions.

These are official statistics. For more information, see the About these statistics section.

Headline figures

Gross tonnage on the UK Ship Register (UKSR) rose at end December 2023 to 10.4 million gross tonnes, increasing 1% from 2022.

Official data from the MCA - for all merchant and pleasure vessels over 100 gross tonnes - shows that gross tonnage on the UKSR increased compared to previous year but remains 36% lower than the 2017 peak.

Based on world fleet data (supplied by Sea/) for trading vessels only, at the end of 2023, the UK registered trading fleet:

• accounted for 0.4% of the world fleet on a deadweight tonnage basis (a measure of cargo carrying capacity), remaining stable since 2020
• 0.6% when based on gross tonnage (a measure of vessel size), remaining stable since 2020
• was the 24th largest trading fleet in the world, on a deadweight tonnage basis, broadly stable since 2019
• accounted for 23% of deadweight tonnage of the Red Ensign Group trading fleet, which as a whole would be the world’s 11th largest trading fleet. This share has remained stable since 2014

Things you need to know

Data source

This release presents figures from 2 different data sources:

Section 1 presents figures for the UKSR, provided by MCA, which show trends in the UK registered fleet using official data. Data, covers part I and IV of the UK Ship Register (Part I: merchant or referred to as trading and pleasure vessels, Part IV: Bareboat Charter).

Sections 2 and 3 use data from a commercial source Sea/ (and predecessors prior to 2022) to provide context, giving the UK position in the global fleet (section 2).

Coverage differs between the 2 sources, for example, the MCA data does not include fishing vessels, and certain museum vessels. More information about coverage for both the MCA and Sea/ by Maritech can be found in the notes and definitions.

In sections 2 and 3 of this publication, data from the commercial source are presented for trading vessels only, so are not directly comparable with MCA figures in section 1 which also cover pleasure vessels.

Users are advised to use MCA figures for a definitive picture of the state of the UK Register. The commercial data provides access to a wider range of contextual information (such as the world fleet or Red Ensign group, ownership or vessel details) or a longer historic series. An overview of the main differences between the 2 sources are outlined in the notes and definitions.

Coverage

Time period: both sources relate to the fleet as at 31 December of each year.

Vessel size: both sources relate to vessels of 100 gross tonnes (GT) or over.

Vessel type: UKSR figures cover merchant (trading) and pleasure vessels, including bareboat charters (parts I and IV of the register). Figures from the Sea/ by Maritech data presented in this release relate to trading vessels - those which carry cargo or passengers for commercial purposes. However, the accompanying data tables also cover non-trading vessels (for example, fishing vessels). Around half of UK registered vessels classified as non-trading vessels in the Sea/ by Maritech data are included in the UKSR statistics given in this release.

Key definitions

Measures of ship size (tonnage), there are 2 alternative ways that the size of ships is measured within these statistics:

• gross tonnage (GT) represents the size of the vessel and is not a measure of weight - it is calculated using a formula based on the volume of enclosed spaces of the vessel. It is used to assess the cost of vessel registration, and is the headline tonnage measure for the UKSR
• deadweight tonnage (DWT) measures the cargo carrying capacity of a vessel, excluding the weight of the ship itself. In general, DWT has been used as the main measure where statistics are based on world fleet data (as in previous years), as overall trends are broadly similar for both measures. The accompanying data tables contain figures for both DWT and GT

Trading (merchant) fleet: Those vessels which carry cargo or passengers for commercial purposes

Measures of shipping interests: A country’s shipping interests may be measured in different ways. UKSR statistics relate to vessels which are registered in the UK. These vessels may be owned or managed by non-UK companies; the commercial data provides other measures of UK shipping including ownership and management in section 3.

Section 1: The UK Ship Register (UKSR)

The figures in this section are based on UKSR data from MCA. In the year to end December 2023 (see Chart 1):

• the UK registered merchant and pleasure fleet rose by 1% compared to 2022 in gross tonnage
• overall vessel numbers continued to decrease, falling by 1% compared to 2022 despite the slight increase in gross tonnage
• gross tonnage was 36% lower than the 2017 high. After 3 years of growth up to 2017, gross tonnage declined sharply in 2019 and has since levelled off

The decline between 2018 and 2019 largely reflects one company’s decision to change the flag of its fleet. Decline in tonnage on the UKSR between 2018 and 2020 is likely to be related to uncertainty over the UK’s exit from the EU.

Consistent official figures exist back to 2003, though commercial data shows (see section 2) that over the longer term, the UK registered fleet was at historically low levels during the 1990’s, before increasing in the decade to 2009. This may reflect the impact of the UK tonnage tax scheme introduced in 2000 in promoting the UKSR. Tonnage tax companies are required to elect into the regime for a 10-year period and may extend that election on a rolling annual basis.

Between 2011 and 2014, the UK registered fleet declined, with a couple of larger companies moving their fleets away from the UK flag for commercial reasons during this period. The Maritime Growth Study, published in 2015, was launched in response to these trends, with the aim of growing the sector; the UK Ship Register Advisory Panel report also covered possible actions to increase the size of the UK flag.

Chart 1: Gross Tonnage, in millions, on the UK Ship Register at end year, 2003 to 2023 FLE0100

Further information

The table FLE0100 presents end year statistics for the UK Ship Register.

Further information about the UKSR and ship registration is published by the MCA.

Section 2: Trading fleet: World and Red Ensign Group

Figures from 2022 onwards in section 2 and 3 are based on world fleet data supplied by Sea/ by Maritech. Any data prior to 2022 is based on IHS data.

These figures cover trading vessels over 100 gross tonnes, and are not directly comparable with the UKSR statistics presented in section 1 (a brief comparison of the 2 sources is given in the notes and definitions.

Based on data from Sea/ by Maritech, the UK share of the world trading fleet was 0.4% by deadweight tonnage and 0.6% by gross tonnage at the end of 2023. The UK registered trading fleet was the 24th largest trading fleet in the world by deadweight tonnage.

At the end of 2023, there were around 68,000 vessels in the world trading fleet, with a total deadweight tonnage of 2,224 million. Chart 2 shows that, by deadweight tonnage, the world fleet has almost doubled in size since 2007 and growth remains linear, increasing by 3% in the latest year.

Chart 2: World trading vessels over 100 gross tonnes, million deadweight tonnes FLE0502

Chart 2 note

The dotted line in 2021 refers to a change in data provider.

The UK registered share of the world fleet has remained broadly stable on the previous year.

On a deadweight tonnage basis, the UK’s share of the world trading fleet decreased to 0.4% in 2022, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point compared to 2022 (see Chart 3). On a gross tonnage basis, the UK’s share has stayed at 0.6% in 2023.

Chart 3: UK registered share (%) of world fleet deadweight tonnage - trading vessels over 100 gross tonnes FLE0502

The UK registered trading fleet is the 24th largest in the world by deadweight tonnage, broadly similar to 2022 (23rd in 2022) - Chart 4 displays this alongside the largest ship registers. The largest trading fleets, such as Panama, are open registers, available to all ships regardless of the place of business of the owner. The UK register is a traditional, or national registry, which requires ships to be owned, at least in part, by national interests (registration information for the UK is published by MCA). The large open registers also account for a large proportion of the overall growth of the world fleet in recent years, most notably the Marshall Islands.

Red Ensign Group countries

United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The Crown Dependencies: the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey. Of these, the Isle of Man accounts for over 99.9% of the combined deadweight tonnage.

The Overseas Territories: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, St Helena, the Turks and Caicos Islands and Montserrat.

The UK registered trading fleet was the 24th largest in the world by DWT in 2023.

Chart 4: The largest ship registers by deadweight tonnage (vessels over 100 gross tonnes, million deadweight tonnage), end 2023

Chart 4 note

OR shows fleets that are open registers - registers available to ships regardless of the nationality of the business owner.

If taken as a group, the Red Ensign Group would have the 11th largest registered trading fleet in the world at the end of 2023, broadly the same rank as in 2022 (10th in 2022). The total registered deadweight tonnage has decreased for the fifth consecutive year, reducing by 3% from 2022 to 42 million deadweight tonnage.

The Red Ensign Group is the collective title for the shipping registers of the UK, the Crown Dependencies, and the Overseas Territories. Registration with the Red Ensign Group provides vessels with the support of British consular services worldwide, UK defence and security responsibilities also extend to vessels flagged to the Red Ensign Group.

The UK accounts for 23% of the deadweight tonnage of the Red Ensign Group trading fleet, whilst the Crown Dependencies (effectively the Isle of Man) account for 45% and the Overseas Territories account for 31%. From 2003 to 2009 the UK and Isle of Man registered trading fleets were at a broadly similar level; from 2009 the Isle of Man trading fleet grew more than 70% up to 2018. However, the Isle of Man register has declined since 2018, with gross tonnage and deadweight tonnage both falling by 4% and 3% respectively, in the latest year. As a result, the UK’s deadweight tonnage as a proportion of the total deadweight tonnage of the Red Ensign Group has increased over the last 5 years.

Statistical tables

FLE03: UK and Crown Dependency registered vessels (by type)

FLE04: Red Ensign Group

Whilst the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories have seen reductions in their trading fleet size (number of vessels), gross tonnage and deadweight in 2023, the UK’s fleet size and gross tonnage have both seen a slight increase while deadweight tonnage has slightly decreased (0.4% reduction) - see Chart 5. The Red Ensign Group’s deadweight tonnage has been steadily increasing from 2009 to 2018 with a dip between 2013 and 2015. In 2019, it started declining sharply, and is now 30% lower in 2023 compared to 2018.

The Crown Dependencies ranked as the 18th largest registered trading fleet in the world measured by deadweight tonnage at end 2023, and in combination, the Red Ensign Group would be in 11th place. Outside the UK, Red Ensign Group members, like many non-European open registries, are able to offer very attractive fiscal regimes to potential customers.

Chart 5: REG registered trading vessels over 100 gross tonnes, million deadweight tonnes FLE0402

Chart 5 note

The dotted line in 2021 refers to a change in data provider.

Percentage changes are rounded to the nearest whole number. Any changes of less than 0.5 are shown as 0.

Section 3: Other measures of UK Shipping interests

The ‘UK trading fleet’ of ships directly owned, beneficial owned, managed or operated by the UK is considerably larger than the UK registered trading fleet, in total accounting for 5.2% the world fleet by deadweight tonnage compared to 0.4% UK registered. Shipping is a complex international business, and many different parties, often based in different countries, may have a commercial interest in a single vessel. Both ownership and management of shipping can have economic value to the country in which they are located. In comparison to the UK, many of the large open flags typically have relatively small fleets of beneficial owned vessels.

In these statistics, the following, non-mutually exclusive, definitions of the UK fleet are used.

UK registered: country flag where the ship is registered is UK.

UK direct owned: Ships for which the headquarters of the company that owns the ship is registered in the United Kingdom (not including the Crown Dependencies and overseas territories).

UK beneficial owned: the ultimate controlling owner of the vessel, who benefits from any profits the ship makes, is registered in the UK, such as having a UK headquarters.

UK managed: The company responsible for the day to day running of the ship is registered in the UK, such as having a UK headquarters.

The above categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, a vessel could be both UK directly owned, and UK managed.

Chart 6: UK interest in trading vessels over 100 gross tonnes, million deadweight tonnes FLE0101

Chart 6 note

The dotted line in 2021 refers to a change in data provider.

UK shipping interest data is not available for 2022. See the notes and definitions.

Percentage changes are rounded to the nearest whole number.

In 2023, 2,028 trading vessels totalling 117 million deadweight tonnes, equivalent to 5% of the world fleet’s deadweight tonnage, are directly owned, beneficial owned managed or operated by UK companies (see FLE0102).

In comparison, the UK registered trading fleet accounted for 9.7 million deadweight tonnes, 0.4% of the world fleet.

Direct owned: In 2023, there were 705 trading vessels owned by UK registered companies, totalling in 23 million tonnes in deadweight.

Beneficial owned: In 2023, UK beneficial owned deadweight tonnage was 49 million tonnes, this is a 6% increase compared to 2020, just before the big decline in 2021, which was mainly due to few companies moving their headquarters from UK that have since then returned.

Managed: In 2023, in total there were 1081 trading vessels managed by UK registered companies totalling in 52 million tonnes deadweight. This has followed a fluctuating downward trend in the last 10 years.

About these statistics

These statistics are official statistics. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Further guidance on the methods used to compile these statistics can be found on the notes and definitions.

Further detail

Detailed statistical tables containing breakdowns and time series of the number, deadweight tonnage and gross tonnage of vessels by type of vessel, size of vessel, fleet definition, and selected international fleets can be found in the maritime and shipping statistics collection.

Related information

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is responsible for ship registration in the UK, and maintains the definitive UK ship register, to which the figures in section 1 of this publication relate.

The 2015 Maritime Growth Study report provides further analysis of the UK and world fleet data and background context.

A range of other sources provide information on the global shipping fleet. For example, the UNCTAD annual Review of Maritime Transport includes a more in-depth analysis of trends in the global fleet (though based on an alternative source of data than is used for this publication).

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