Panama’s long-standing reign as shipping’s largest flag state has come to an end.
The fast-expanding Liberian Registry has finally passed the South American flag state on the all-important gross tonnage terms, according to the latest monthly figures in broker Clarksons World Fleet Monitor.
The Liberian-registered fleet grew by 5.6% this year, bringing it to 246.5m gt. Panama’s fleet has grown by 2.3%, to stand at 244.3m gt.
Liberia — run by the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR) — is shipping’s second fastest growing flag this year.
It has only been surpassed by the German national flag, which has grown by 16.8% to 8.1m gt, according to Clarksons’ figures. Liberia now registers more than 14% of the world’s fleet.
In terms of the number of vessels, Panama is still by far the largest with 8,254 ships on its books, compared to Liberia’s 5,052.
The change has been on the cards for some time following a growth spurt by Liberia over recent years, which has partly been driven by its maritime transport agreement with China.
Liberian registered ships can expect favourable treatment at Chinese ports and discounted tonnage dues of around 28%.
Liberia is also on the white list of all the major port state authority regions.
Its closest rivals — Liberia and the Marshall Islands — have also taken Panama on at its traditional stronghold in Japan.
Panama’s decision this year to crack down on ships with a poor safety or compliance record put further pressure on its fleet growth.
The loss of its position as the world’s leading flag state comes just after Panama national and maritime official Arsenio Dominguez was elected to lead the International Maritime Organization as secretary general from the start of 2024.
