Small Vessels

Overview

The small vessel label covers a broad spectrum of different categories and is often classed as ships that are below 400GT and includes cargo, passenger ferries, fishing vessels and numerous other types of specialist ships. Naturally this segment straddles the three main operational areas: domestic, short sea and international.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) counts over 40,000 ships in the 100-1,000GT size band and estimates of the small vessel segment vary, especially as many of these ships are traditional artisanal fishing or local small ferries and cargo boats, however we do have a good estimate for the world fishing fleet from the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in their State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 report.

The world fishing fleet was estimated at 4.9 million vessels in 2022, two-thirds of which were motorized. Asia (71%), Africa (19%), Latin America and the Caribbean (5%), Northern America (2%), Europe (2%) and Oceania (<1%). Of these, approximately two thirds of these were considered to operate in marine waters and while estimates vary, approximately 80% of the motorized fishing vessels were less than 12m length overall (LOA).

Source: The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024, FAO

Wind Propulsion Development & Forecasts

The small vessel segment has both traditional ships operating on long established domestic and regional routes, such as dhows operating in the Indian Ocean and in the Arabian peninsular but also some pinisi cargo vessels in Indonesia and numerous small wind powered fishing vessels worldwide. This is supplemented by a cluster of new and restored sail cargo vessels operating in, around and between Europe and the US. If the size of vessels is extended up to 1,000GT, then we have a number of newly built vessels in operation, including in the Pacific. This segment is expected to grow significantly as fuel prices increase, especially as a solution for regions such as the Pacific where there are long distances, low volume traffic and historically high fuel prices.

The first IWSA Small Windships Publication was published in September 2024, and rather than being a definitive report on the sector, this is a collection of articles, interviews, survey results and project profiles. This resource will be updated and added to annually. Read here