Merchant navy

The merchant navy or merchant fleet includes all seagoing vessels that are registered in the ship register of the country and the shipping for the transportation of goods ( merchant ships ) and serve people (ie commercial shipping to operate ). These vessels are known as merchant vessels.

Types of ships in the merchant navy are mainly cargo ships of all kinds, ships for the transport of persons, but not of sea fishing vessels. In detail, only such sea-going vessels for the merchant marine, which are classified and registered in the register of ships. Ships of the merchant marine flying the flag of the country in which they are registered. Some states have trade flags that differ from their national flag. For Austria and Germany this is not the case, is in Switzerland only partly a difference in the format ( 2:3 ).

The totality of the Merchant Navy ( world fleet ) comprised of 1999 gross tonnage (GT ) of 543 600 000 of which Germany accounted for 6.5 million GT ( with an average age of three years ). The world's largest merchant fleets (as of 1997) due to ausgeflaggten ships Liberia (29 million GT ) and Panama ( 23.2 million GT).

The term ' merchant navy ' is also in maritime law, international law, European law, commercial law and used as a statistical term. Article 27 of the German Basic Law provides:

" All German merchant vessels form one merchant fleet. "

German merchant fleet

The following two tables ( last updated August 1, 2012, prepared by the German Shipowners' Association ) show the structure of the German merchant fleet. Included are all commercial vessels ( over 100 GRT) in German property, regardless of the flag they fly. The VDR -company interests of the German shipping companies to the Federal Republic, the federal states, EU institutions and international institutions.

Dwt = deadweight tons ( tons of cargo ), a measure of the loading capacity for ships

GT = gross tonnage. Gross registered tonnage (GRT ) and net register tonnage ( NRT) have been replaced by gross tonnage (GT ) and net tonnage (NRZ ), both dimensionless numbers.

The gross tonnage is also known as Gross Tonnage ( GT). More details here.

Data on the 1st of January of the year (except last line )

Others

During the world economic crisis of 2009/10, many merchant ships were decommissioned or just drove with significantly reduced speed to conserve fuel ( "slow steaming" ). A shipping crisis by a glut of cargo space began. Too many ships had been ordered or built, and came to completion on the market, while the cargo volume declined (see also hog cycle ). To date ( mid-2013 ) it has not made ​​a sustained recovery. Freight rates ( = transport price) and charter ( rent a boat) collapsed. Particularly affected are as widely used in Germany charter companies.