Europe loses fleet share even as tonnage grows
A new European Shipowners study reports that the European-controlled fleet represents 34.5% of the world fleet by capacity. The figure, used in the press release accompanying the publication and in the executive summary, is a five-year rolling average. The study’s own data tables show the underlying picture is one of steady decline.
Europe’s actual share of global gross tonnage stood at 32.8% in 2025, down from 38.5% in 2018. The drop has been continuous: 37.5% in 2019, 36.3% in 2021, 34.4% in 2023, 33.6% in 2024. Over the same seven years, the Asia-Pacific region’s share rose from 40.8% to 45.1%, driven, in the words of the report, by “Chinese-driven fleet expansion.” Europe has lost 5.7 percentage points of global share in the period the study covers; Asia-Pacific has gained 4.3.
The 34.5% headline is described in the study itself as a smoothing device. To “avoid over-interpreting year-to-year changes driven by timing effects in fleet expansion,” the authors write, “the European share can also be meaningfully expressed as a 5-year rolling average.” The five-year window includes the higher 2018-2021 figures, lifting the average above the latest single-year reading.
The European-controlled fleet is not contracting in absolute terms. Capacity rose from 514 million GT in 2018 to 570.5 million GT in 2025, an 11% increase, with the strongest annual growth — 2.6% — recorded in 2025. The world fleet expanded by approximately 30% over the same period, which is what produces the share decline.
The study, an in-house ECSA analysis updating a 2025 report by CE Delft, was published on 4 May 2026. Its launch coincided with a parliamentary seminar in Brussels the following day, hosted by Greek MEP Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi, who chairs the Transport and Tourism committee, and Maltese MEP Daniel Attard. The panel framed the figures as a warning rather than a reassurance.
Christophe Tytgat, secretary general of SEA Europe, the shipyards and maritime equipment association, drew the sharpest comparison. “Is shipping facing the same evolution that we have seen for many decades in the shipyard sector?” he asked. “Is the shipping industry going the same way as the shipyard sector?” Mr Tytgat said the figures looked good but sent “warning signals”, noting that “in a sector as mobile and global as shipping, even small changes can create long-term consequences for Europe’s influence and strategic position.” European shipbuilders ceded ground to Asian competitors over decades; Mr Tytgat’s question was whether shipping is now on the same trajectory.
The decline is unevenly distributed across segments. European shipowners control 28.2% of bulk carrier GT against 59.4% for Asia-Pacific, the most concentrated regional gap in the report. Specialised cargo, including chemical tankers, gas carriers and reefers, shows a similar pattern: 27.9% European, 48.0% Asia-Pacific.
Two segments cut against the trend. European shipowners account for 21% of merchant tonnage operating in Asian waters, rising to 34% of container ship capacity active in Asia and 20% of bulk carrier capacity. The vehicle-carrier segment is the clearest counter-example: European shipowners control 28% of global vehicle-carrier capacity by GT and operate 41% of low- and zero-carbon-fuel vehicle carriers on order by vessel count, rising to 45% by GT. The numbers run against the broader narrative of European automotive decline against Chinese electric-vehicle competition. In shipping, European companies are still the ones building the next generation of car carriers.
The press release accompanying the study described the position as evidence of “harsh competition” requiring “an international level playing field.”