Water Transportation Industry - Statistics & Facts

Although seaborne container traffic accounts for the smallest share of the estimated 10.8 billion tons of global seaborne trade, containerized freight is often more valuable per ton. As a result, global seaborne container trade is believed to account for about 60 percent of worldwide seaborne trade in terms of value. When transported in containers, the freight - mainly comprised of consumer goods - can be moved interchangeably by commercial vehicles, railroads and container ships. At ports, container ships are loaded or unloaded by cranes at container terminals. PSA International is the world’s leading marine terminal operator, followed by Hutchison Port Holdings of the British Virgin Islands. The largest port in the United States, the Port of Los Angeles, generated a little over 440 million U.S. dollars in revenue in 2016. The Port of Los Angeles is operated and managed by the City of Los Angeles.

The countries with the highest quality of port infrastructure in 2016 include the Netherlands with an overall rating of 6.8, Singapore with a rating of 6.7, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, both with a rating of 6.4.

In 2015, Kuehne + Nagel was ranked as the world’s leading ocean freight forwarder. In 2016, Kuehne + Nagel generated worldwide revenue of about 16.5 billion Swiss francs. As of April 3, 2017, the world’s leading container ship operators based on TEUs were: APM-Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM Group.

* The abbreviation TEU stands for twenty-foot equivalent unit, a standard unit of measure in the shipping industry used to describe the capacity of container ships and terminals.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
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Number of general cargo ships in the world's merchant fleet

17k

Transport volume of global seaborne trade (in metric tons)

11bn
Merchant fleet
Number of general cargo ships in the world's merchant fleet 17k Capacity of bulk carriers in the world merchant fleet 769m dwt Number of container ships in the global shipbuilding order book 396 Seaborne trade capacity of container ships 253m dwt
Seaborne trade
Transport volume of global seaborne trade (in metric tons) 11bn Global seaborne car trade (in cars) 19.8m Amount of loaded goods in global seaborne trade (in tons) 10.7m
Leading companies
The world's leading ocean freight forwarder Kuehne + Nagel Kuehne + Nagel's worldwide revenue 24.8bn CHF The world's second leading marine terminal operator Hutchison Port Holdings PSA International's throughput 74m TEUs The world's leading supply chain management software vendor SAP SAP's global revenue 26bn EUR The world's leading container ship operator Maersk Maersk Line's revenue 24.3bn USD

Water Transportation Industry - Important statistics

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Water Transportation Industry
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View dossier
Merchant fleet
Number of general cargo ships in the world's merchant fleet 17k Capacity of bulk carriers in the world merchant fleet 769m dwt Number of container ships in the global shipbuilding order book 396 Seaborne trade capacity of container ships 253m dwt
Seaborne trade
Transport volume of global seaborne trade (in metric tons) 11bn Global seaborne car trade (in cars) 19.8m Amount of loaded goods in global seaborne trade (in tons) 10.7m
Leading companies
The world's leading ocean freight forwarder Kuehne + Nagel Kuehne + Nagel's worldwide revenue 24.8bn CHF The world's second leading marine terminal operator Hutchison Port Holdings PSA International's throughput 74m TEUs The world's leading supply chain management software vendor SAP SAP's global revenue 26bn EUR The world's leading container ship operator Maersk Maersk Line's revenue 24.3bn USD

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Transport volume of worldwide maritime trade 1990-2016
Kuehne + Nagel - worldwide revenue 2006-2018
Port of Los Angeles - operating throughput 2004-2018

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