--- title: "How many ships are there in the world? about 105,000 merchant " description: "about 105,000 merchant ships — plus roughly 4 million fishing vessels How the figure is estimated, how confident it is, and what makes the scale graspable." url: https://atoneplace.net/how-many/ships-at-sea/ site: "At One Place" --- # How many ships are there in the world? **How many ships are there in the world?: about 105,000 merchant ships — plus roughly 4 million fishing vessels** The largest container ships now carry over 24,000 TEU — about as much cargo as the entire world container fleet could move in a single voyage in 1968. The world merchant fleet is about 105,000 vessels of 100 gross tons and above, and they carry roughly 80% of world trade by volume. That headline hides a much bigger number: there are around 4 million fishing vessels, the great majority of them small undecked boats in Asia. At any moment perhaps half the merchant fleet is under way and the rest is in port, anchored or laid up. Around 300 ships of over 100 tons are lost each year, a rate that has fallen by two-thirds in two decades. ## How the figure is arrived at Ship registries are legally required, so this is a census. Every merchant vessel above the threshold has a flag state, an IMO number and classification society records. Position is separately known in near real time from AIS transponders, which is how "ships currently at sea" can be counted rather than estimated. ## How confident it is - **Low estimate:** 100,000 - **High estimate:** 110,000 - **Spread:** 1.1× between the bounds ## Other things people built counts - [How many countries are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/countries/) — 195 — or 193, or 206, or 249, depending on who is counting - [How many cars are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/cars-in-the-world/) — about 1.5 billion motor vehicles - [How many planes are in the air right now?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/planes-in-the-air-right-now/) — roughly 10,000 to 20,000 at any moment - [How many languages are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/languages/) — about 7,150 living languages - [How many McDonald's are there?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/mcdonalds-restaurants/) — about 43,000 in over 100 countries - [How many phones are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/phones-in-the-world/) — about 8.9 billion mobile connections — more than there are people - [How many nuclear weapons are there?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/nuclear-weapons/) — about 12,200 warheads - [How many websites are there?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/websites/) — about 1.1 billion hostnames — but only around 200 million active - [How many books have ever been published?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/books-ever-published/) — about 130 million as of 2010 — probably over 200 million now - [How many airports are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/airports-in-the-world/) — about 45,000 with runways — but only around 4,000 with scheduled airline service - [How many ATMs are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/atms-in-the-world/) — about 3 million - [How many cities are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/cities/) — about 10,000 with over 50,000 people; 33 megacities over 10 million - [How many buildings are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/buildings-in-the-world/) — somewhere between 1.5 and 4 billion - [How many computers are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/computers-in-the-world/) — roughly 2 billion personal computers in use ## Common questions ### How many ships are there in the world? about 105,000 merchant ships — plus roughly 4 million fishing vessels ### How is that estimated? Ship registries are legally required, so this is a census. Every merchant vessel above the threshold has a flag state, an IMO number and classification society records. Position is separately known in near real time from AIS transponders, which is how "ships currently at sea" can be counted rather than estimated. ## Related pages - [How many countries are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/countries/) - [How many cars are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/cars-in-the-world/) - [How many planes are in the air right now?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/planes-in-the-air-right-now/) - [How many languages are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/languages/) - [How many McDonald's are there?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/mcdonalds-restaurants/) - [How many phones are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/phones-in-the-world/) - [How many nuclear weapons are there?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/nuclear-weapons/) - [How many websites are there?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/websites/) - [How many people are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/people-alive-right-now/) - [How many stars are there in the universe?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/stars-in-the-universe/) - [How many bones are in the human body?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/bones-in-the-human-body/) - [How many grains of sand are there on Earth?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/grains-of-sand-on-earth/) - [How many ants are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/ants-on-earth/) - [How many trees are there in the world?](https://atoneplace.net/how-many/trees-on-earth/) ## Sources - Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)