Danish Shipowners' Association publishes several statistics and key figures about the Danish shipping industry. Among other things the publication Danish Shipping Statistics appears twice a year and can be seen on the right side of this page. Furthermore, some key figures can be found in the left column.

The Danish Merchant Fleet has Grown – Despite the Financial Crisis
The financial crisis had a severe impact on the freight markets. Although rates have taken a positive turn in several areas during the last few months, there is a long way to go before all segments are restored to a balanced level. Nevertheless, the Danish merchant fleet has not only stood its ground but actually continued to expand. Since the beginning of the crisis at the end of 2008 the fleet has increased by 28 ships or 1,200,000 GT, and the first four months of 2010 alone account for 10 ships or 300,000 GT. The biggest contributor to the expansion is the tank segment, in which Danish owners play an increasingly important role - with Danish-flagged vessels as well as owned and chartered vessels under foreign flag. In terms of size, however, liner trade is still a clear number one with its 61 % of the overall tonnage. This is mainly due to the considerable number of container vessels under Danish flag.

Small Country – But One of the Biggest Shipping Nations in the World
With its nearly 11 million GT the Danish merchant fleet constitutes 1.3 % of the world fleet and makes it the 17th biggest in the world. In addition, Danish shipping companies own a significant number of ships under foreign flag, thus bringing the Danish owned fleet up to 23 million GT or 7th in the world ranking, only exceeded by the biggest industrial countries and the traditional shipping nation, Greece. A further doubling of numbers in terms of Danish shipping’s international importance results from including vessels chartered or otherwise controlled by Danish interests, i.e. operator activity. This brings the figures up to more than 1,500 ships or more than 40 million GT, qualifying for the position as one of the 5 biggest shipping nations in the world.

Newbuilding Orders on a Lower Level
The number of ships on order has steadily decreased since the end of 2008 concurrently with the completion and delivery of ships ordered prior to the onset of the financial crisis – and due to a certain number of cancellations, partly due to problems on the part of the shipyards. As a result of the weak markets, contracting for newbuildings has been at a virtual standstill but this should also be seen in the light of the significant newbuilding programme initiated by Danish owners in prior years. As of May 1st Danish owners had 264 ships of totally 6.5 million GT on order. Thus, Denmark still holds a firm position in the global newbuilding statistics, and consequently, the low average age, for which the Danish merchant fleet is known, will be maintained in the years to come.

Denmark’s Single Biggest Export Industry
Danish shipping’s foreign currency earnings have shown strong growth in the last decade, culminating in 2008 with 190 billion DKK. The drastically reduced freight markets have inevitably affected earnings, but in 2009 gross currency earnings amounted to 140 billion DKK, being the same level as 2005/6. Thus, shipping maintains its position as the single most important contributor to the Danish balance of payments.

It is expected that earnings for 2010 will reach a figure similar to 2009. In this connection it is worth mentioning that shipping’s primary areas of activity and revenue is changing. The relative importance of USA is declining while that of China is increasing. China’s economical progress is bringing back optimism in essential segments of the freight markets, and endeavours to restore rate levels here have been successful, not least in liner trades.

There are differing opinions as to whether we are in a sustainable recovery. Even though there is a great deal of uncertainty about how many of the ships on order that will actually be built, there is general consensus that it is too many in relation to the expected demand in next few years. There is already considerable oversupply in a number of segments. Still, Danish shipping companies remain strong and are well-equipped to meet future’s challenges – expecting the positive domestic framework for the shipping industry to continue and free market conditions to prevail on the global scene despite certain tendencies towards state subsidies and other destabilizing factors.