The Liberian Registry has edged within 10m gt of the world’s long-established largest flag Panama and appears to be on course to grab the top spot next year.
The Liberian flag has grown by 9.4% this year to 227.2m gt, according to broker Clarksons’ latest World Fleet Monitor report.
Panama has grown 3% this year and has 237.3m gt on its books.
Since the end of last year, Liberia has added 20m gt to its ship register and Panama 7m gt.
Panama’s dominant position as the world’s leading flag has been unchallenged since it took the lead in 1993. If the current rate of Liberia’s growth is maintained, it could take over from Panama by early next year.
Liberia’s growth has only been surpassed this year by the South Korean national flag — shipping’s 16th largest ship register — which has grown by 11.1%.
Liberia’s growth is also significantly outpacing that of the world fleet, which increased by 2.6% overall in 2022.
Although Panama is losing market share in terms of tonnage, it still has the largest number of ships with 8,199 vessels on its books, compared with 4,691 at Liberia.
Those which also seem to be losing market share include Hong Kong International Ship Register, which has fallen by 2.3%, and the Greek national flag, down by 2.2% this year.
Recently, Liberia and the third largest flag state, the Marshall Islands, have been successful in winning business from Panama’s biggest customer base in Japan.
Emphasis on quality
As shipowners have put increased emphasis on quality in recent years, Liberia and the Marshall Islands have been able to offer white-list status at the Paris MOU and Tokyo MOU port state control regions, and also US Coast Guard Qualship approval.
Such recognition significantly reduces the chances of a vessel being inspected during a port call.
The Liberian Registry’s growth has come under the management of the Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry, headed by chief executive Alfonso Castillero.
Liberia’s rate of growth indicates that the long-running gradual consolidation of the world fleet into the three leading open registers is continuing.
Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands register more than half the world fleet by volume. Their combined fleet amounts to 648.7m gt out of a total world fleet of 104.2m gt.
The top-10 flag states now account for 76% of the world fleet, according to Clarksons’ figures.
