Statistics

Reliable German merchant fleet statistics

The Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) maintains the German shipping register and is the central registration office for all German seagoing ships. This includes also ships registered temporarily under a foreign flag.

The following statistics compiled by the BSH include sea-going vessels from German shipping registers of sea-going ships with a gross tonnage (GT) of 100 or more. Starting with the statistics for December 2025, which were published in January 2026,

• ships are classified according to the international ship designation system Statcode 5. The previous designation system has been completely replaced. 
• the catalogue of ship types relevant for statistical purposes has been expanded. This increases the total amount of ships to be evaluated, so that significantly more ship types will be included in the statistics than before.

Therefore, the data is not directly comparable with previous periods. The BSH is currently working on an archive that will give you access to previously published statistics.

• Status of the German merchant fleet (in German only)
  These statistic provides monthly data of the German merchant fleet for the past 12 months. It is subdivided according to the IHSM type code and the corresponding ship type designation. For each month it contains the number of ships and their GT by ship type. The total number of ships temporarily registered under a foreign flag is shown in the last row of the table. 
  
  

• Statistics of ships registered temporarily under a foreign flag (bareboat charter) (in German only)
  These statistics cover the preceding month, broken down by bareboat charter flags. For each foreign flag numbers and GT are shown in separate graphs and additionally in a table.
  
  
• Detailed status of the German merchant fleet (in German only)
  These statistics show for the preceding month numbers and gross tonnage (GT) of German-flagged ships for each individual ship type and the share of ships listed in the International Shipping Register (ISR). In addition numbers and GT are shown for ships registered temporarily under a foreign flag.
  
  
• Development of the share of the German flag and of foreign flags (in German only)
  These statistics for each of the previous 12 months show a graphic comparison of numbers and GT of ships under the German flag versus ships under foreign flags and the relevant figures in tables.

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You can request further statistical data about the German merchant fleet via our mailbox statistik-deumarda@bsh.de;  please direct requests about individual German owned ships to einzelanfragen-deumarda@bsh.de.

This information requires the proof of legitimate interest and is subject to a fee (Gebührenordnung zum Informationsfreiheitsgesetz). Therefore, please explain why you are interested in the data.

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