The Portuguese flag fleet has grown significantly for the second year in succession.

As of January 1 2022, and for the first time, more than 700 merchant vessels were registered under the Portuguese flag, reflecting growth of almost 100 ships in one year from 608 to 702 vessels and an increase in tonnage of more than 3m tons deadweight from 22.7m to 25.8m dwt in the same period.

The significant increase underscores Portugal’s performance as Europe’s fastest growing flag and the International Shipping Register of Madeira (MAR) as the fastest growing shipping register in Europe. The vast majority of Portuguese flagged ships are registered in MAR.

Portugal now ranks fourteenth in the international league table in terms of tonnage, up one place from 2021. Should this the rate of growth continue, Portugal will be ranked thirteenth this year and twelfth in 2023, moving ahead of the United Kingdom. Portugal is recently in fifth position in the European league table.

Enhancing the importance of European flags with high standards of maritime safety, crew and sustainability awareness will contribute to strengthening the European Union’s maritime influence and ability to compete with non-European offshore tax haven registers.

Despite the positive figures, there remains a large dominance of offshore registers. The latest statistics reveal that while the world market share of European flagged vessels declined from 17 per cent (2021) to 15.7 per cent (2022), the largest three offshore registers controlled 45.3 per cent, up from 42.7 per cent.

A coordinated initiative by the European Commission and member states is essential if the European Union is to increase the attractiveness of its merchant fleet, incorporating maritime know-how and operating incompliance with European legislation. The European Union must not wait to lose market share to offshore registers and should take immediate action towards building a stronger maritime presence within its member states.

Jörg Molzahn, co-managing director of EUROPEAN MAR, the exclusive agency of MAR said:

“We are proud of this highly positive development. This reflects not only fleet growth and continuing progress in the fields of maritime safety but a balanced fleet structure and the competitiveness of the register and the flag. It is essential that shipowners operate under a transparent and reliable flag, and particularly while war rages in Ukraine.

“One option is re-flagging to the European Union and we encourage shipowners to flag with attractive European Union registers and operate with full compliance. We also need to shift from offshore to onshore. The European Union should prioritise being a focal point for maritime transport and shipping companies.

“Some 39.5 per cent of the global merchant fleet is controlled by European shipowners but only 15.7 per cent of these fly the flag of a European Union member state. This can only be changed by adopting strategic measures to maintain competitiveness against large offshore registers. Focused measures and incentives for European shipowners should be introduced to avoid flagging out from European Union registers.”