Ten things you didn't know about shipping
Ten things you didn't know about shipping
1. About 95% of goods consumed or produced in the UK come and go by sea.
2. The UK's 52 major ports handled an estimated 580 million tonnes of goods in 2006 (provisional estimate).
3. The UK's busiest port in 2006 was Grimsby and Immingham. It handled about 64 million tonnes of goods.
4. There were over 23 million international passenger journeys into and out of UK ports in 2006.
5. In 2006/7 there were around 690 new entrant merchant navy officer cadets in the UK.
6. Businesses in London generate around £1 billion each year by providing services like insurance to ships.
7. The body that regulates shipping globally, the United Nations' International Maritime Organisation, is based in London.
8. According to Maritime London, London is the leading centre for legal services to the shipping industry around the world.
9. The UK-registered fleet (including the Isle of Man and Channel Islands) is the tenth largest in the world at 19.8 million gross tonnes, with a carrying capacity (deadweight tonnage) of 26 million tonnes.
10. Merchant Navy Day was launched by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott on 3 September 2000 and is now celebrated every year. It commemorates the 30,000 merchant seamen who died during World War II and also reminds the country about the continuing importance of the Merchant Navy.
More information
Find out about the Department for Transport's shipping and ports policy
Find more Maritime Statistics
