More than 320 merchant ships totalling 3,224,586 gt and with an average age of 11.6 years fly the Gibraltar flag, and there are more than 830 pleasure yachts on the Gibraltar Yacht Registry. The expansion of the Gibraltar-flagged fleet has been underpinned by a number of very specific factors; foremost among these is the fact that Gibraltar is a Category 1 member of the Red Ensign Group, which means that any vessel registered is regarded as a British vessel.