Panama has fallen another step in the global ship registry rankings, dropping to third place. According to Clarksons Research data as of September 1, Liberia’s fleet ranks first with 317.4 million GT, while the Marshall Islands holds second place with 212.7 million GT. Panama came third with 196 million GT.
Sea-news.az reports citing “Seanews.az” that Panama retains its lead in terms of the number of vessels, with 7,516 ships sailing under the country’s flag. However, the total tonnage of the fleet decreased by 15 percent this year compared to 230.5 million GT at the end of 2025. During the same period, the fleets of Liberia and the Marshall Islands grew by 8.7 percent.
Panama was the world’s largest ship registry for 30 years, but was surpassed by Liberia in 2023. Measures taken by Panamanian authorities to deregister sanctioned vessels and those linked to the “shadow fleet” are cited as the main reason for the fleet’s decline.
Singapore ranks fourth with 141.1 million GT, while Hong Kong is fifth with 111.6 million GT. Panama also has the oldest fleet among the leading flags, with an average vessel age of 19.5 years.
