China has overtaken Greece to become the world's largest ship-owning country in terms of gross tonnage, according to information released over the weekend by the Shanghai-based China Shipowners' Association.

 

Citing data from Clarksons Research, a leading provider of data and intelligence for global shipping based in the United Kingdom, the association said the fleet of Chinese shipowners has reached 249.2 million GT, accounting for a global market share of 15.9 percent, or about $180 billion in fleet value.

 

This is slightly higher than the 249 million GT of Greek shipowners' fleet, which accounts for a global market share of 15.8 percent and is valued at around $163 billion.

 

Japan ranks third with a fleet of 181 million GT, followed by South Korea and the United States, both at around 66 million GT.

 

Although China has taken the lead in terms of gross tonnage, which is a nonlinear measure of a vessel's overall internal volume, Greece still maintains the lead in terms of deadweight tonnage, which measures the total weight a ship can carry.

 

The European country currently holds a significant portion of the market with a deadweight tonnage of 423 million, accounting for 18 percent of the world's total, according to Clarksons Research. Greek shipowners are also competitive in sectors such as oil tankers, liquefied natural gas carriers and bulk carriers.

 

Nem gondoltam volna, hogy a gorogok ilyen nagy hajosok vilagszinten is.