Liberia strengthens top flag position while Singapore leapfrogs Hong Kong

Liberia has widened its lead as the world’s largest flag by gross tonnage, according to Lloyd’s List. 

The 2025 ranking, based on vessels above 500 gt excluding fishing ships, shows Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands holding the top three positions, while Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong to become the fourth-largest flag. 

Together, the top 10 flag states control more than three quarters of global carrying capacity when measured by deadweight. Liberia, which surpassed Panama in 2023, fields almost 300 million gt as of 1 November 2025, a 3.2% year-on-year increase that expands its lead over Panama to nearly 45 million gt.

Liberia remains in the top performance tier on the Paris and Tokyo port-state-control white lists. Panama’s tonnage has slipped by roughly 1.9% as the registry removes higher-risk ships and tightens entry criteria. In August 2025, its maritime authority said it would stop accepting tankers and bulk carriers more than 15 years old, citing internal data that vessels above that age accounted for more than 70% of detentions between 2023 and the first half of 2025.

Panama remains on the Paris MoU grey list but keeps its white-list ranking in the Tokyo MoU. The Marshall Islands holds third place with gross tonnage up about 1.9% to just under 200 million gt. The gap to Panama has narrowed but stands at around 60 million gt, and the registry stays ahead of rapidly expanding Singapore. The flag continues to appear on the white lists of both major port-state-control regimes. 

Singapore is the biggest mover in the 2025 table. Under new Maritime and Port Authority chief Ang Wee Keong, the flag grew by 24.9% in gross tonnage terms, overtaking Hong Kong. Much of the increase reflects ships re-flagging from Hong Kong ahead of a now-suspended US port-fee plan that would have imposed higher charges on vessels linked to China, including those flying the Hong Kong flag. Singapore ranks in the top five on the Paris MoU white list and in the top three in the Tokyo MoU tables.

Hong Kong, after modest growth in 2024, saw its fleet contract by 13.7% in 2025, dropping it to fifth place. Owners including Seaspan shifted vessels to other registries, particularly Singapore, to reduce exposure to regulatory and geopolitical risk.

Malta, China and the Bahamas remain in sixth, seventh and eighth place. Malta’s fleet grew by 3.2% to just under 89 million gt; China inched up 0.5% to 83.5 million gt; and the Bahamas expanded by 1.5% to 62.4 million gt while investing in digitalisation through electronic seafarer record books and competency certificates. All three are on the white lists of the Paris and Tokyo MoUs.

Japan rose to ninth place as its fleet reached 33.5 million gt on 1 November 2025, a 6.2% annual increase. The Maritime Bureau, led by director-general Keita Arakaki, emphasises the strategic role of shipping and shipbuilding and the decarbonisation challenge. Japan ranks among the top performers in the Tokyo MoU and in the top 10 of the Paris MoU list.

Greece fell to tenth after a 4.4% drop in tonnage, placing the flag about 1.1 million gt behind Japan. Although it remains on the white lists of both the Paris and Tokyo MoUs, the decline underscores the competitive pressure European registries face from open flags.

UNCTAD estimates that Liberia, Panama and the Marshall Islands jointly control around 45% of global carrying capacity in deadweight terms, while the top 10 flags account for roughly 77% of world tonnage.Lloyd’s List is a long-established maritime information and analytics provider that produces industry news, data-driven rankings and sector research.

Source : Portnews