Vessel facts & stats

Question 1

About what share of international trade by volume is carried by ships?

Accepted Answer

over 80%. Maritime transport carries more than 80% of world trade by volume, according to the UN trade agency UNCTAD.

Question 2

Between 2005 and 2010, the world's merchant fleet of ships over 1,000 gross tons grew from about 30,900 to about how many?

Accepted Answer

38,988 ships. The global merchant fleet grew about 26% in just five years, reaching nearly 39,000 large ships by 2010.

Question 3

As of December 2018, about what share of the world's merchant mariners were born in the Philippines?

Accepted Answer

about 1 in 4. Roughly a quarter of the world's seafarers were Filipino as of late 2018, reflecting the country's outsized role in crewing.

Question 4

In its first year of 1914, about how many ships passed through the Panama Canal, compared to over 13,000 a year by the 2010s?

Accepted Answer

about 1,000 ships. Only about 1,000 vessels transited the canal in its opening year, versus well over 13,000 annually decades later.

Question 5

As of 2021, what share of the global maritime workforce were women?

Accepted Answer

1.28%. Women made up only about 1.28% of the maritime workforce in 2021, one of the most male-dominated industries globally.

The basics