Overview

The RoRo segment is often counted together with General cargo vessels and collectively these make up the largest segment of the fleet with 18,350 ships but far smaller when calculated in terms of deadweight tonnage, standing at just over 84, 0471,000 dwt or 3.6% of the total tonnage of the fleet.

Out of the 1,665 newbuild vessels delivered in 2023, general cargo only accounted for just over 2%. The general cargo and RoRo fleet is a far older segment that others, with over 70% of the fleet over 15 years old and scrappage rates are also quite low around 4% of the total in 2023.

Sources: UNCTAD calculations, based on data from Clarksons Research Shipping Intelligence Network, Review of Maritime Transport 2024 as of 01 January 2024 (109,000 ships over 100GT)
Global merchant fleet – number of ships by type | Statista (60,000 ships), 2023

Wind Propulsion Development & Forecasts

There are RoRo segment has seen quite robust growth for both retrofitting and newbuild installations of wind propulsion systems as the location of the wind propulsion systems can be configured and located away from the main activity areas when loading/unloading.
Wind Propulsion Installations
As of the end of Q4 2025, there were nine RoRo vessels in operation with 21 wind propulsion system units installed and equals 182,000gt.

Overview

This specialist segment is something of a catch all, and this includes offshore vessels (5,000+), service ships (3,000+), specialist cargo and heavy lift (330+) along with large fishing vessels (5,600+), large tugs (920) over 500GT. This is naturally a very mixed bag and collectively represents roughly the same number of ships as the bulk carrier segment.
The ages of these vessels is varied, the percentages of ships over 15 years are as follows; offshore vessels (c.50%), service ships (83%), specialist cargo and heavy lift (50%) along with large fishing vessels (70%) and large tugs (c.65%) over 500GT.

• Specialized Cargo Ships include; Heavy Load Carrier, Livestock Carrier, Nuclear Fuel Carrier etc.
• Offshore Vessels include; Drilling Ships, FSO, Oil & Gas, Mining Vessels, Offshore Supply and Support Vessel, Pipe-Layers, etc.
• Service Ships include; Aircraft Transport Ship, Buoy/Lighthouse Vessels, Cable-Layer and Repair Ships, Crew Supply Vessels, Dredgers, Icebreakers, Patrol Vessels, Pilot Vessel, Research Vessels, Sail Training Ship, Salvage, Search & Rescue Vessel, Wind Turbine Installation Vessel, etc.
• Fishing Ships include; Fishing Vessels, Fish Factory Ships, Fish Processing Vessel, Trawlers etc.

 

Source: UNCTAD calculations, based on data from Clarksons Research Shipping Intelligence Network, Review of Maritime Transport 2024 as of 01 January 2024
The World Merchant Fleet 2022 – statistics from Equasis

Wind Propulsion Development & Forecasts

There have not been a large number of wind propulsion installations across these segments, however there is real potential to develop these especially where these ships have substantial deck space for fixed wind propulsion systems, potential for containerised installations and off deck systems.

There are currently two heavy lift vessels, as of Q4 2025 with the largest a 153m, 17,223GT Heavy Lift Vessel – Deck Carrier along with one Nuclear Fuel Carrier. The service ship segment does include training ships and there are a small number of sail training ships, however some of these are military or coastguard operated vessels, therefore not included in these numbers. When it comes to fishing vessels, we have a number of smaller fishing vessels installed with wind systems but nothing in the large segment yet.

Overview

The tanker sector is the second largest segment of the fleet in terms of number of large ships, if collectively counted, including; Crude Oil tankers (8,445 ships), Chemical tankers (6,259 ships) and LNG carriers (2,258 ships). Deadweight tonnage stands at 305,313,000 dwt, 51,411,000 dwt and 88,064,000 dwt respectively or just under 20% of the total tonnage of the fleet. This Crude Oil comprises seven main segments, ranging from SR/handy tankers in the 25,000-39,000 dwt range right up to ULCC of 320,000dwt and above.

Crude Oil Tankers
Ultra large crude carrier: 320,000 dead-weight tons (dwt) and above
Very large crude carrier: 200,000–319,999 dwt
Suezmax crude tanker: 125,000–199,999 dwt
Aframax/long range 2 crude tanker: 85,000–124,999 dwt
Panamax/long range 1 crude tanker: 55,000–84,999 dwt
Medium range tanker: 40,000–54,999 dwt
Short range/handy tanker 25,000–39,000 dwt

Out of the 1,665 newbuild vessels delivered in 2023, oil tankers accounted for 12.1% of the ship gross tonnage delivered making this the third largest newbuild segment after container and bulkers ships, followed by LNG carriers. The tanker fleet is similar to the bulker fleet as a comparatively young fleet, with around two thirds of vessels under 14 years. When it comes to tonnage scrapped in 2023, LNG carriers were 8.3% of the total, followed by Oil tankers (5.6%) and Chemical tankers (1.5%).

Sources: UNCTAD calculations, based on data from Clarksons Research Shipping Intelligence Network, Review of Maritime Transport 2024 as of 01 January 2024 (109,000 ships over 100GT)
Global merchant fleet – number of ships by type | Statista (60,000 ships), 2023

Wind Propulsion Development & Forecasts

The Tanker segment has been identified as a key segment for retrofitting and newbuild installations of wind propulsion systems, currently based on existing hull designs though there is room for further development and optimisation here. The various tanker segments pose different challenges to Bulk carriers when installing any deck equipment with stricter fire and safety restrictions along with identifying clear areas of deck space for foundation work on retrofits, whereas newbuilds enable slight design adjustments and the market has seen some ‘wind-ready’ notations. The oil tanker and chemical segments have been experiencing a growth in interest in installations which is slated to grow further as installation experience and costs continue to fall.

Estimates made in the CE Delft led report delivered to EU DG Clima in Nov 2016 estimated that by 2030 there could be up to 2,500 wind installed tankers in the 5,400-88,000 dwt segments with continued gentle rise thereafter up to 2050, or approximately 67% of the fleet at this size. [Note – This forecast was developed prior to the COVID pandemic and subsequent logistical disruption, and thus should be viewed with an element of 1-2 year lag time]

Source: Study on the analysis of market potentials and market barriers for wind propulsion technologies for ships, CE Delft, November 2016

Wind Propulsion Installations
As of the end of Q4 2025, there were 27 tankers installed with 59 wind propulsion system units, along with nine additional wind-ready vessels. These 34 vessels are spread across a variety of segments and sizes ranging from VLCC oil tankers, through to smaller chemical/product tankers and CO2 carriers. These ships account for 1,297,8000 dwt installed and 514,500 dwt wind-ready of the fleet with a surge in recent orders and some additional installations to be added shortly.

Overview

The Container ship segment is a smaller but vital segment of commercial shipping with approximately 5,800 vessels in operation worldwide and terms of deadweight tonnage it is over 227 million dwt with the largest vessels having a capacity of over 24,000 TEUs (or standard 20ft containers)

Out of the 1,665 newbuild vessels delivered in 2023, container ships accounted for the highest percentage with 35.3% of the ship gross tonnage delivered and over 43% of the fleet is below 10 years of age.

Source: UNCTAD calculations, based on data from Clarksons Research Shipping Intelligence Network, Review of Maritime Transport 2024 as of 01 January 2024
Global merchant fleet – number of ships by type | Statista (60,000 ships), 2023

Wind Propulsion Development & Forecasts

The Container segment is the least developed of the wind propulsion markets mainly due to lack of deck space for deck mounted systems especially when considering retrofitability. Newbuild designs are however being developed and a number of vessels have been ordered ranging from small primary wind vessels that can carry 100-200 TEU up to designs for up to 4,500 TEU. The modular application of containerised systems is also currently being demonstrated on a small 1,036TEU feeder vessel

Overview

There are over 300 large cruise vessels in operation with 56 on order for delivery between 2024-28, roughly a total of 30 million GT, whereas there are 15,400 ferries worldwide that carried 4.27 billion passengers and 373 million vehicles in 2019 with a similar total gross tonnage. These ferries predominantly operate in Asia (12,197) though this number excludes approximately 10,000 small ferries engaged in local river traffic. This is followed by Europe (1.665), Americas (1,338), Oceania (175) and Africa (91). These ferries in operation have a wide spread of ages and types of vessel however the average age is over 20 years.

Out of the 1,665 newbuild commercial vessels delivered in 2023, passenger vessels accounted for 3.1% of the ship gross tonnage delivered indicating that there is a fairly low replacement rate in this segment.

Source: UNCTAD calculations, based on data from Clarksons Research Shipping Intelligence Network, Review of Maritime Transport 2024
Global merchant fleet – number of ships by type | Statista (60,000 ships), 2023
State of the Cruise Industry Report, CLIA, 2024
Global Ferry Market Study, Interferry, 2021

Wind Propulsion Development & Forecasts

The passenger ferry segment has not seen a large growth in wind propulsion installed vessels in the last couple of years, however this segment is starting to grow with four large ferries in operation along side 10 smaller traditionally rigged leisure cruise vessels and two large primary wind commercial cruise vessels under construction.  NOTE: Sail training vessels and small general cargo vessels that also take up to 12 passengers are not included in these figures. There is a growing trend of designs and newbuild orders for both expedition cruise vessels and a number of general cargo vessels that are also configured to transport up to 12 passengers too.

At present, there is little in the way of hard data or projections for growth in these sectors, however ferries on fixed routes with favourable routes are seeing increased interest for wind installations. The growth in interest in the expedition cruise vessel segment is driven in part by increased restrictions and regulation in vulnerable areas such as the West Norwegian Fjords World Heritage site introducing a zero-emissions policy for ferries and cruise ships in the region by 2026 at the latest.

Overview

The General Cargo segment is often counted together with RoRo vessels and collectively these make up the largest segment of the fleet with 18,350 ships but far smaller when calculated in terms of deadweight tonnage, standing at just over 84, 0471,000 dwt or 3.6% of the total tonnage of the fleet.

Out of the 1,665 newbuild vessels delivered in 2023, general cargo only accounted for just over 2%. The general cargo and RoRo fleet is a far older segment that others, with over 70% of the fleet over 15 years old and scrappage rates are also quite low around 4% of the total in 2023.

Source: UNCTAD calculations, based on data from Clarksons Research Shipping Intelligence Network, Review of Maritime Transport 2024 as of 01 January 2024
Global merchant fleet – number of ships by type | Statista (60,000 ships), 2023

Wind Propulsion Development & Forecasts

The General cargo segment has seen quite robust growth for both retrofitting and newbuild installations of wind propulsion systems and this segment includes four small primary wind propulsion vessels (as of Q4, 2025) with a further 16 on order or awaiting rig installation. As of the end of Q4 2025, there were 20 General cargo vessels in operation with 34 wind propulsion system units installed and with a total of 105,300 dwt.