second increase in 5 years; 227 vessels were added to this fleet in 1985.
During 1989, the total deadweight tonnage ofbulk carriers increased by 2.5%
compared with an increase of 1.5% in 1988 and adecrease of 1.3% in 1987.
The average de&hweight tonnage ofbulk carriers increased by 2.3%
in 1989
to 43,670 tons from 42,679 tons in 1988. The tabulation shows the distribution
ofthe bulkcarrierfleet ofthe world as ofDecember3l, 1989. 
crease in the average tonnage offreighters despite the loss of 2.6% of the
fleet. The tabulation shows the distribution of the world's freighter fleet
at the end of 1989. 
Country of registry 
Country of registry 
Liberia 
Panama 
Norway (NIS) 
United States 
Japan 
British Dependencies 
Bahamas 
Cyprus 
U.S.S.R. 
Singapore 
Iran 
Italy 
Denmark (DIS) 
France 
Brazil 
Spain 
Number 
of 
vessels 
574 
590 
261 
239 
203 
295 
ill 
159 
104 
420 
121 
35 
222 
54 
51 
83 
80 
63 
168 
68 
32 
24 
42 
68 
64 
20 
982 
5,133 
Deadweight 
tonnage 
(thousand 
long tons) 
55,366 
21,340 
17,009 
15,754 
15,285 
14,144 
12,542 
12,322 
8,899 
7,061 
5,106 
5,044 
4,737 
3,984 
3,715 
3,555 
3,321 
3,030 
2,778 
2,614 
2,270 
2,192 
1,944 
1,854 
1,611 
1,508 
22,938 
251,923 
 
 
Number 
f 
0 
vessels 
Deadweight 
tonnage 
(thousand 
long tons) 
Panama 
1,707 
17,164 
U.S.S.R. 
1,732 
11,543 
China 
860 
8,664 
United States 
371 
7,237 
Cyprus 
537 
5,082 
liberia 
311 
4,843 
Japan 
411 
3,575 
Singapore 
216 
2,997 
Germany, Federal 
 
 
Republic of 
244 
2,918 
Taiwan 
147 
2,804 
Greece 
238 
2,781 
British Dependencies 
252 
2,444 
Bahamas 
225 
2,233 
Netherlands 
256 
2,149 
Yugoslavia 
l6'l 
1,954 
Korea, Republic ef 
211 
1,883 
Denmark (DIS) 
136 
1,799 
Pbilippines 
225 
1,753 
India 
112 
1,705 
Romania 
220 
1,647 
United Kingdom 
89 
1,578 
Poland 
143 
1,408 
Italy 
181 
1,381 
Brazil 
114 
1,127 
Turkey 
202 
1,099 
Other 
2,888 
24,292 
Total 
12,195 
118,060 
India 
China 
 
. 
Country of registry 
N ber 
um 
of 
vessels 
Deadweight 
tonnage 
(thousand long tons) 
Panama 
854 
31,817 
Liberia 
511 
27,989 
Japan 
287 
18,468 
Greece 
442 
18,365 
Cyprus 
410 
15,742 
Philippines 
285 
12,479 
Norway (NIS) 
177 
10,299 
British Dependencies 
176 
9,810 
Korea, Republic of 
154 
8,415 
China 
240 
8,098 
U.S.S.R. 
244 
7,060 
India 
118 
5,101 
Brazil 
94 
5,071 
Bahamas 
114 
5,020 
Italy 
67 
4,334 
Taiwan 
63 
4,212 
Yugoslavia 
90 
3,451 
Singapore 
70 
3,391 
Romania 
70 
2,993 
Poland 
92 
2,593 
Turkey 
58 
2,553 
Malta 
79 
2,441 
Belgium 
20 
1,988 
Australia 
29 
1,873 
Iran 
50 
1,771 
Spain 
43 
1,477 
Other 
541 
17,805 
Total 
5,335 
233,139 
Malta 
Saudia Arabia 
Kuwait 
Isle of Man 
United Kingdom Korea, Republic of 
Iraq 
Other 
Total 
Freighters.—The world's freighter fleet 
decreased in 1989 by 323 vessels compared with a decrease in 1988 of54 vessels
and a decrease in 1987 of 214 vessels. Despite 
the decrease in the number of vessels during 1989, the total deadweight tonnage
of the freighter fleet remained about the 
~ same, decreasingbyO.Ol% compared with decreases in 1988 of 1.0% and in
1987 of ~ 6.1%. Thus, there was virtually no de 
 Tankers.—The world's tanker fleet decreased by 117 vessels in
1989,
the first decrease in 3 years following increases of l6Ovesselsin 1988 and9l
vesselasin 1987 as opposed to decreases of 457 vessels in 1986 and 26 vessels
in 1985. Despite the decrease of total deadweight tonnage in 1989 of 1.1%,
the average deadweight tonnage in 1989 increased by the same ratio of 1.1%,
continuing the trend of the past several years to the use of mediumsize tankers.
The tabulation presents the distribution ofthe tankerfleet ofthe world at
the end of 1989. 
 Information gleaned from articles and reports concerning the world's merchant
fleet indicated that the total deadweight 
tonnage of combination, bulk carriers, freighters, and .tanJ~ers increased
slightly during 1989 despite a drop of 485 in the total number of vessels
to 22,983 from 23,468 during the year. During 1989, 16 vessels were lost
and 123 were scrapped, which was aloss of807,000 and 2,044,000 deadweight
tons, respectively. Deliveries of484 new vessels with atotal deadweight tonnage
of 19,316,000 and adjustments for remeasurements or temporaiy or permanent
deactivation of minus 830 vessels totaling 13,895,000 deadweight tons resulted
in the yearend figures. New dclivcries in 1989 ofbulk carriers and tankers,
the 2 categories of ships most involved in international mineral commodity
transport, saw decreases compared with those of 1988 in the number of vessels.
The number ofbulk carriers decreased by only 1 ship (-0.9%) while the total
deadweight tonnage increased by 561,000 tons (+8.9%). The number of deliveries
of new 
12  MINERALS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY—1989