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Ship flags can sometimes only be assigned straight away by geography teachers or globetrotters.
The colorful flag with the yellow sun in the middle and the colored areas in black, blue and red belong to Antigua and Barbuda.
But these Caribbean islands are of great importance for German shipping: With 521 ships, there are more freighters in the German merchant fleet than in any other country in the world.
It is followed by the African flag state Liberia.
Source: WORLD infographic
Germany ranks third with 290 registered ships.
Europe has the largest share: almost half of the local freighter fleet from a total of 309 mostly medium-sized shipping companies sail under a European flag.
There are a number of reasons for shipowners to choose one of the flags of convenience for ship registration: low taxes on the wages of seafarers on board, for example, or lower fees.
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The federal government has reacted to this and provided shipping companies with considerable relief, for example with wage tax.
However, this could only slow the trend towards flagging out.
Source: WORLD infographic
In any case, the number of German merchant ships has steadily decreased since a high in 2011 to 2001 freighters, measured from a minimum tonnage of 100 gross tonnage.
The main reason for the trend are economic emergencies, especially for small shipping companies, and the resulting ship sales.
In addition, with an average of 13 years, the ships are getting older and older.
This fits in with the fact that more and more ships will be scrapped between 2019 and 2020 around the world, with recycling volumes increasing by 40 percent.
Source: WORLD infographic
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In global shipping, however, Germany was able to hold onto its position.
If you look at the global container fleet, Germany is still the second largest shipping nation with a share of 12.5 percent.
In the entire world merchant fleet, the country ranks fifth.
For the long-time world export champion, a high share of the world market in shipping is an important criterion for success, after all, almost 90 percent of exports are by sea.
A good half of world shipping is controlled by European shipping companies, and Greek shipping companies have been defending their leading position in tankers for decades.
Source: WORLD infographic
In the months of the corona pandemic, large shipping companies such as Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and MSC are doing record business.
The shortage of capacities has led to the fact that the freight rates of a container from Asia to Europe have exploded from under 2000 dollars to more than 8000 dollars (approx. 6700 euros) for a spontaneously rented transport.
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Ships and containers are scarce and spend a longer time on the seas than in other years.
In a comparison between the final quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2021, according to calculations by Hapag-Lloyd, the operating time of a sea container has increased by 20 percent.
Source: WORLD infographic
Waiting times, currently two weeks in front of Long Beach, California, for cargo ships to be unloaded, trigger chain reactions.
In Europe, too, the first ship congestion is forming off Rotterdam.
Consumers feel this directly when they have to wait months for goods made in Asia.