United Arab Emirates. Thailand has enlarged its
nationally flagged fleet largely through the re-flagging
of Thailand-owned ships back to the national flag.
Similarly, most of the Iranian-flagged ships are
owned by companies from the Islamic Republic
of Iran, many of which had in previous years been
registered abroad.
The regional shares by vessel type and flag of registration
are provided in table 2.6. Developing countries account
for more than three quarters of the world’s fleet
registration, increasing their share by a further 0.44
percentage points during the 12 months to 1 January
2014. In particular, more than 81 per cent of the global
dry-bulk fleet are registered in developing countries.