As of December 31 
 
 
 
1985 
1986 
1987 
1988 
1989 
Number. 
14 
513 
429 
264 
1,220 
1.1 
42.1 
35.2 
21.6 
100.0 
19 
397 
274 
222 
912 
 
 
2.1 
43.6 
30.0 
24.3 
100.0 
19 
401 
190 
302 
926 
 
 
3.5 
43.3 
20.5 
32.7 
100.0 
27 
290 
181 
210 
708 
 
 
3.9 
41.0 
25.5 
29.6 
100.0 
48 
708 
260 
490 
1,506 
 
 
3.2 
47.0 
17.3 
32.5 
100.0 
Combination 
 
 
 
 
 
Freighter 
 
 
 
 
 
Bulkcarrier 
 
 
 
 
 
Tanker 
 
 
 
 
 
Total 
 
 
 
 
 
Percent: 
 
 
 
 
 
Combination 
 
 
 
 
 
Freighter 
 
 
 
 
 
Bulk carrier 
 
 
 
 
 
Tanker 
 
 
 
 
 
Total 
 
 
 
 
 
MINERALS IN THE WORLD ECONOMY—1989  13tankers decreased by 61 vessels
(-27.7%) and the total deadweight tonnage decreased by 3,103,000 tons (-23.8%).
The trend in bulk carriers is toward larger ships, with the average size
of ships on order being 74,000 deadweight tons while the existing fleet averages
43,000 deadweight tons. The following tabulation shows the deliveries of
new oceangoing merchant vessels during 1988 and 1989 by vessel type and deadweight
tonnage. 
 
 
1988 
1989 
Numbec 
27 
330 
115 
220 
692 
8 
203 
114 
159 
484 
Combination 
 
 
Freighter 
 
 
Bulkcarrier 
 
 
Tanker 
 
 
Total 
 
 
Deadweight tonnage 
 
 
(thousand long tons): 
130 
4,178 
6,300 
13,021 
23,629 
35 
2,502 
6,861 
9,918 
19,316 
Combination 
 
 
Freighter 
 
 
Bulk carrier 
 
 
Tanker 
 
 
Total 
 
 
 Known ship scrappings and losses during 1989 were as follows, with thousand
deadweight tons in parenthesis following the number of vessels: combinations—5
(35); bulk carriers—16 (593); freighters— 86 (822); and
tankers—32
(1,402). The total broken up for scrap or lost during 1989 fell to 2.85 million
deadweight tons, a 5% drop from the tonnage scrapped or lost during 1988.
The resale value of large tankers again remained above scrap metal value
in 1989, which helped prevent scrapping, and continued the rise since the
early 1980's when a surplus of ships reduced prices. Large tankers, at the
end of 1989, were estimated to be worth at least 
$40 million each, compared with about 
$100 million each for a comparable new ship, and are also usually immediately
available for service. 
Informationfurnished by the Maritime Administration, an agency of the U.S.
Department of Transportation, shows that the average deadweight tonnage of
new tankers delivered during 1989 was 62,377 long tons, which continued the
trend of the past few years to the use of tankers in the small to medium
range. This, however, was an increase ofonly 5% 
over the average deadweight tonnage of the tankers delivered during 1988
compared with a 15% average increase during the previous year. The following
tabulation shows the number and percentage of the total ofthe major types
of oceangoing merchant vessels under construction or on order for the years
1985-89. 
The following tabulation shows the deadweight tonnage of oceangoing merchant
ships on order at the end of 1989 by the country of construction. 
 
 
Deadweight 
Country 
tonnage 
(thousand 
long tons) 
Japan 
21,985.7 
16,376.9 
2801.3 
2628.9 
1,663.5 
1,588.9 
1,517.1 
1,506.7 
1,418.6 
1,356.6 
1,236.2 
878.1 
629.3 
617.0 
4,155.8 
60,360.6 
Korea, Republic of 
 
Denmark 
 
Yugoslavia 
 
Spain 
 
Brazil 
 
Germany, Federal Republic of 
 
China 
 
Taiwan 
 
Italy ~ 
 
Poland 
 
Romania 
 
German Democratic Republic 
 
United Kingdom 
 
Others 
 
Total 
 
Ocean Freight Rates 
 
Data on ocean freight rates that, in the past, had been published by the
United 
Nations are no longer available. Other sources, however, provide information
that is indicative of this broad area. Considering ocean shipping rates for
iron ore 
as representative of dry cargo in general, these average rates increased
during 1989 from a low of no change for iron ore shipped from Brazil to the
Netherlands to a high of 28% for iron ore shipped from Brazil to Japan. This
was a smaller range of increases than during 1988 when comparable rates increased
from 16% to 51% from Australia to Europe and Brazil to Japan, respectively.
The yearly average rate for shipping iron ore from Canada to Europe increased
27% between 1988 and 1989 although there was an increase of only about 18%in
the value ofthe material itself during the same period. In addition to the
value ofthe material being shipped, other factors determine the variance
of these rates. These factors include the size ofthe ship, the availability
ofdifferent size ships, the cost of marine fuel, and the general economic
conditions in the importing countries. 
Tanker rates, as usual, generally followed the same trend as for dry cargo
and ended 1989 somewhat higher than at the beginning of the year. Increased
demand for internationally shipped crude oil coupled with increased investment
in tankers by owners are resulting in increased tanker rates. According to
industry sources, rates for large tankers in 1985