Long hailed as the world's foremost shipowning nation due to its renowned shipping magnates and plethora of shipping companies, Greece has been surpassed. Recent data released by Clarksons Research indicates that China now holds the title of the world's largest shipowner by total tonnage.
According to Clarksons' figures, Chinese shipowners currently control fleets totaling 249.2 million gross tons (GT), capturing a 15.9% market share. This is a slight edge over the 15.8% market share held by Greek shipowners. In terms of fleet value, Chinese fleets are worth an estimated $180 billion, compared to the $163 billion value of Greek fleets. Japanese shipowners hold fleets of 181 million GT, followed by South Korea and the U.S., both at approximately 66 million GT.
Historically, the contest for the title of "largest global shipowner" has mainly been between countries like Japan, Greece, and China. At the turn of the 21st century, Japan led in total tonnage. However, Greece surpassed it in 2013 and China overtook Japan in 2018. Regionally, by 2019, Asian shipowners had larger fleets than their European counterparts, and this gap continues to widen.
Clarksons' data further reveals that since 2015, the fleet size under Chinese shipowners has seen robust growth. Particularly noteworthy are the increases in dry bulk and container ship segments. Currently, dry bulk fleets under Chinese shipowners constitute 24% of the GT, while container ships account for 16%.
Among Chinese shipowners, COSCO Shipping Group and China Merchants Group are the top two players. They're followed by ICBC Leasing, CMB Financial Leasing, and CICC Financial Leasing, all of which have banking and financial backgrounds. These calculations account only for operational leases and exclude finance leases.
However, when it comes to oil tankers and LNG carriers, Greek shipowners still hold the upper hand. They command a 25% market share in the oil tanker sector and 21% in the LNG carrier market.
Stephen Gordon, an analyst at Clarksons Research, noted that Chinese shipowners are incredibly active in the new shipbuilding market due to advantages in cargo size, shipbuilding, and finance. Currently, the order volume held by Chinese shipowners is nearly double that of Greek shipowners. Moreover, Chinese shipowners are also very active in the used ship market.
Beyond just owning a vast tonnage of ships, China's shipbuilding industry is also a global leader. Data from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry reveals that from January to June 2023, China's completed shipbuilding, new order volume, and current order volume by deadweight tonnage constituted 49.6%, 72.6%, and 53.2% of global figures respectively. When measured by gross tonnage, these figures are 47.3%, 67.2%, and 46.8%, respectively, positioning China firmly at the top of the global rankings.
