The Norwegian Merchant Fleet, 2009

The merchant fleet, vessels registered in the Norwegian International Ship register (NIS) and the Norwegian Ordinary Ship register (NOR), totalled 1 444 vessels at the end of 2009. Total gross tonnage was 16.2 million tonnes. A total of 537 vessels had a total gross tonnage of 14.1 million tonnes in NIS and 907 vessels had a total gross tonnage of 2.1 million tonnes in NOR.

NIS holds the big vessels

There were 188 vessels between 20 000 and 50 000 gross tonnes in NIS at the end of the year. Representing 35.0 per cent of all merchant ships in NIS, the corresponding share of gross tonnage was 43.1 per cent.

Older vessels in NOR

Of the 537 merchant vessels in NIS, 263 were less than 15 years old. The total gross tonnage in this group was 8.0 million. In NOR, 331 out of 907 were under 15 years old with a total gross tonnage of 1.5 million. For vessels 30 years old and more, NIS had 54 ships with a total gross tonnage of 0.6 million, while NOR had 419 ships with a total gross tonnage of 0.2 million.

Dry goods and NOR

At the end of 2009, NOR had 869 dry goods ships with a total gross tonnage of 1.6 million. This is 95.8 per cent of the ships and 76.1 per cent of total gross tonnage in NOR. Passenger vessels and ferries are significant with 144 and 223 vessels respectively. General cargo and offshore supply are also important vessel types, with 173 and 155 ships respectively.

Ships not included in the merchant fleet

By the end 2009 there were 13 900 vessels in Skipsregistrene NIS/NOR that are not included in the merchant fleet. The types of vessels lean heavily towards fishing and leisure; 6 222 fishing vessels and 4 437 leisure boats.

Tables:

• Table 1 Vessels registered in Norwegian ship registers. The merchant fleet. Vessels and tonnage. 1997-2009
• Table 2 Merchant fleet. Vessels in Norwegian ship registers. Number of vessels and gross tonnage, by vessel type as of 31 December 2009
• Table 3 Merchant fleet. Vessels in Norwegian ship registers. Number of vessels and gross tonnage, by vessel size as of 31 December 2009
• Table 4 Merchant fleet. Vessels in Norwegian ship registers. Number of vessels and gross tonnage by vessel age as of 31 December 2009
• Table 5 Merchant fleet. Vessels in Norwegian ship registers. Number of vessels and gross tonnage, by home port as of 31 December 2009
• Table 6 Vessels in Norwegian ship registers not included in the merchant fleet. Number of vessels and gross tonnage, by vessel type as of 31 December 2009