About Shipping Statistics and Market Review

Shipping Statistics and Market Review

Shipping Statistics and Market Review (SSMR) is a Bremen-based maritime statistics journal published by the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL). First issued in 1957, it is one of the longest-running specialist publications in world shipping, providing detailed statistical analysis of the global merchant fleet, the tanker and bulk carrier markets, container and general cargo shipping, cruise shipping, shipbuilding, and seaborne trade. Published in annual volumes with themed issues, it serves shipowners, charterers, brokers, port authorities, shipyards, banks, and policymakers as a reference work for maritime market intelligence.

Overview

Shipping Statistics and Market Review appears as an annual volume of themed issues, each devoted to a segment of the maritime markets. The standard program covers the world merchant fleet, the world tanker market, the world bulk carrier market, world container shipping, world general cargo and ro-ro shipping, world passenger and cruise shipping with the ISL Cruise Fleet Register, world shipbuilding and shipbuilders, the major shipping nations, and world seaborne trade and world port traffic. Each issue combines statistical tables and fleet data with analytical commentary from the institute's researchers.

The journal draws on the ISL's proprietary databases, including its fleet database and port database, which the institute has built up over decades of maritime research in close cooperation with its clients and partners. The statistics cover fleet development by ship type and size, ownership patterns, orderbooks, newbuilding deliveries, demolitions, freight market developments, and port traffic figures. The analytical focus extends to market structure: who owns the world fleet, where ships are built, which nations dominate shipping, and how seaborne trade volumes develop.

The readership is the global maritime industry's professional core: shipping companies, shipbrokers, charterers, port and terminal operators, shipyards, marine equipment suppliers, banks and financiers, insurers, consultancies, government agencies, and researchers. The subscription price reflects its status as a professional reference work: the 2025 volume is priced at 770 euros for the print copy, with digital and institutional licenses available, and combined print-plus-digital institutional packages. Single issues can be ordered individually, priced between 110 and 180 euros depending on the segment, with container shipping and seaborne trade commanding the higher prices.

History

The journal's history is inseparable from that of its publisher. The Institute for Maritime Research was established on March 30, 1954, as a non-profit foundation under private law by the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, with the statutory purpose of conducting and promoting scientific shipping research. In 1957 the institute launched the monthly "Shipping Statistics and Market Review", which has been published regularly ever since. The shipping statistics yearbook followed in 1959, based on the "Bremer Jahrbuch der Weltschifffahrt" of 1953 and 1955.

The institute's name changed over the decades to reflect its evolving tasks: in 1967 it became the "Institute of Maritime Economics", and later the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL), with logistics and system analysis supplementing the original maritime focus. In 1982 the "Förderkreis Stiftung Institut für Seeverkehrswirtschaft" was founded by representatives of German shipping companies to support the institute's scientific research. The journal was previously published under the title "Shipping Statistics" from 1983 to 1993 before returning to its established name.

Through nearly seven decades of publication, the journal has documented the transformation of world shipping: the container revolution, the rise of the Asian shipbuilding nations, the growth of the cruise industry, the consolidation of liner shipping, and the cyclical booms and busts of the tanker and bulk markets. The 2025 volume is Volume 69, marking the journal's unbroken run into its seventh decade, and the institute continues to publish it alongside the Shipping Statistics Yearbook and the Monthly Container Port Monitor.

Coverage and Content

Each issue of the volume is devoted to one market segment. The World Merchant Fleet issue analyzes the development of the global fleet by ship type, size, and age, with ownership patterns showing which countries and companies control the tonnage. The tanker and bulk carrier issues examine the two great commodity shipping markets, covering fleet supply, orderbooks, demolition, and the demand drivers of oil and dry bulk trades. The container shipping issue addresses the liner market, fleet capacity, alliance structures, and the cascade effect of ever-larger vessels.

The general cargo and ro-ro issue covers the smaller and specialized segments, while the passenger and cruise shipping issue includes the ISL Cruise Fleet Register, tracking the cruise fleet's development, ownership, and shipyard orderbooks. The shipbuilding issue analyzes the world's shipyards, new orders, and the leading shipbuilding nations. The major shipping nations issue ranks the countries that dominate the industry by ownership, flag, and shipbuilding. The seaborne trade and port traffic issue completes the volume with the cargo volumes that drive the entire industry.

The analytical commentary accompanying the statistics reflects the institute's research perspective, with each issue carrying the ISL's assessment of market developments. The journal's data series, maintained over decades, give researchers and practitioners long time series for fleet and trade analysis, a continuity that is rare in commercial market intelligence and that underpins the journal's authority.

Organization and Ownership

Shipping Statistics and Market Review is published and distributed by the ISL Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics, Universitätsallee 11-13, 28359 Bremen. The institute is a non-profit foundation under private law, originally established by the Senate of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and supported by the Förderkreis of German shipping companies. The institute's activity orientation spans maritime economics, logistics, and system analysis, and it serves public and private clients with market analyses, forecasts, and policy consultancy.

The journal's editorial work is carried out by the institute's research staff, with fleet and port databases maintained by dedicated researchers. The business model is the specialist-journal standard: institutional and corporate subscriptions at professional prices, single-issue sales, and digital licenses, with cancellation terms set at three months before the end of the calendar year. Orders and subscriptions are handled through the institute's subscription department and its webshop at shop.isl.org.

Digital Presence

The journal is presented through the ISL's web presence at isl.org and its webshop at shop.isl.org, where tables of contents, subscription prices, and ordering information are published. Digital editions are available as downloads with single-user and institutional licenses, alongside the print copy. The institute's broader digital presence includes its maritime-markets competence pages, describing its databases and research services.

The journal itself remains primarily a print and PDF reference work rather than a news website; its value lies in the statistical series and the analytical commentary, distributed to subscribers in print and digital form. The ISL's databases, including the port database, the Monthly Container Port Monitor, and the Container Traffic Model Europe, complement the journal's published statistics and feed the institute's consulting work for ports, carriers, and public institutions.

The Reference Work of Maritime Markets

Shipping Statistics and Market Review is one of the maritime industry's enduring statistical references: a Bremen journal that has documented world shipping since 1957, published by an institute founded for that purpose in 1954. In an industry driven by cycles, capacity, and cargo volumes, the journal's long data series and segment-by-segment analysis give practitioners and policymakers the numbers on which decisions are made. Volume 69 continues a run that few specialist journals anywhere can match, and the ISL's databases ensure the series remains current.