Relative Size of the U.S. and World Fleets

Source: Lloyd's Register of Shipping "World Fleet Statistics" (now published by IHS Fairplay)

The table below shows the changes since 1914 in the size of the US-flag fleet of self-propelled seagoing commercial ships of at least 100 gross tons, compared to the world fleet. Obviously we came out of both world wars with a lot more tonnage than we needed for peacetime trade, but the decline of the past 20 years is depressing.

Year	The World Fleet		The US-Flag Fleet		U.S. % of World GT
Year	# of Ships	000 GT	# of Ships	000 GT	U.S. % of World GT
1914	24,444	45,404	1,692	4,287	9.4%
-------- World War I --------
1919	24,386	47,897	3,611	11,933	24.9%
1920	26,513	53,905	4,039	14,525	26.9%
1921	28,433	58,846	4,247	15,674	26.6%
1922	29,255	61,343	4,234	15,733	25.6%
1923	29,246	62,335	4,217	15,623	25.1%
1924	29,024	61,514	3,992	14,707	23.9%
1925	29,205	62,380	3,829	14,208	22.8%
1926	29,092	62,672	3,621	13,740	21.9%
1927	28,967	63,267	3,577	13,606	21.5%
1928	29,387	65,159	3,554	13,607	20.9%
1929	29,612	66,407	3,524	13,487	20.3%
1930	29,996	68,024	3,399	13,103	19.3%
1931	29,952	68,723	3,268	12,794	18.6%
1932	29,932	68,368	3,233	12,716	18.6%
1933	29,515	66,628	3,174	12,563	18.9%
1934	28,964	64,358	3,109	12,303	19.1%
1935	29,071	63,727	3,069	12,145	19.1%
1936	29,197	64,005	3,021	11,905	18.6%
1937	29,524	65,271	2,946	11,788	18.1%
1938	20,409	66,870	2,857	11,404	17.1%
1939	29,763	68,509	2,853	11,362	16.6%
-------- World War II --------
1948	29,340	80,292	5,225	29,165	36.3%
1949	30,284	82,571	5,026	27,814	33.7%
1950	30,852	84,583	4,953	27,514	32.5%
1951	31,226	87,245	4,909	27,331	31.3%
1952	31,461	90,180	4,876	27,245	30.2%
1953	31,797	93,352	4,800	27,237	29.2%
1954	32,358	97,422	4,756	27,344	28.1%
1955	32,492	100,569	4,537	26,423	26.3%
1956	33,052	105,200	4,432	26,146	24.9%
1957	33,804	110,246	4,374	25,911	23.5%
1958	35,202	118,034	4,301	25,590	21.7%
1959	36,221	124,935	4,196	25,288	20.2%
1960	36,311	129,769	4,059	24,837	19.1%
1961	37,792	135,916	3,936	24,238	17.8%
1962	38,661	139,980	3,749	23,273	16.6%
1963	39,571	145,863	3,706	23,133	15.9%
1964	40,859	153,000	3,537	22,430	14.7%
1965	41,865	160,392	3,416	21,527	13.4%
1966	43,014	171,130	3,332	20,797	12.2%
1967	44,375	182,100	3,303	20,333	11.2%
1968	47,444	194,152	3,232	19,668	10.1%
1969	50,276	211,661	3,146	19,550	9.2%
1970	52,444	227,490	2,983	18,463	8.1%
1971	55,041	247,203	3,327	16,266	6.6%
1972	57,391	268,340	3,687	15,024	5.6%
1973	59,606	289,927	4,063	14,912	5.1%
1974	61,194	311,323	4,086	14,429	4.6%
1975	63,724	342,162	4,346	14,587	4.3%
1976	65,887	372,000	4,616	14,908	4.0%
1977	67,945	393,678	4,740	15,300	3.9%
1978	69,020	406,002	4,746	16,188	4.0%
1979	71,129	413,021	5,088	17,542	4.2%
1980	73,882	419,991	5,579	18,464	4.4%
1981	73,864	420,835	5,869	18,908	4.5%
1982	75,151	424,742	6,133	19,111	4.5%
1983	76,106	422,590	6,437	19,358	4.6%
1984	76,068	418,682	6,441	19,292	4.6%
1985	76,395	416,269	6,447	19,518	4.7%
1986	75,266	404,910	6,496	19,901	4.9%
1987	75,240	403,498	6,427	20,178	5.0%
1988	75,680	404,406	6,442	20,832	5.2%
1989	76,100	410,481	6,375	20,588	5.0%
1990	78,336	423,627	6,348	21,328	5.0%
1991	80,030	436,027	6,222	20,291	4.7%
1992	79,845	444,305	5,737	18,228	4.1%
1993	80,655	457,915	5,646	14,097	3.1%
1994	80,676	475,859	5,270	13,655	2.9%
1995	82,890	490,662	5,292	12,761	2.6%
1996	84,264	507,873	5,289	12,025	2.4%
1997	85,494	522,197	5,260	11,789	2.3%
1998	85,258	531,893	5,626	11,852	2.2%
1999	86,817	543,610	5,642	12,026	2.2%
2000	87,546	553,054	5,792	11,111	2.0%
2001	87,939	574,551	5,824	10,907	1.9%
2002	89,010	585,583	6,039	10,293	1.8%
2003	89,899	605,218	6,144	10,330	1.7%
2004	89,960	633,321	6,370	10,683	1.7%
2005	92,105	675,116	6,419	10,998	1.6%
2006	94,936	721,855	6,437	11,122	1.5%
2007	97,504	774,937	6,416	11,313	1.5%
2008	99,741	830,704	6,435	11,139	1.3%
2009	102,194	882,635	6,546	12,018	1.4%