China Becomes World’s Largest Shipowner

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.