Merchant shipping

.
A nation's shipping fleet comprises the ships that operated by civilian crews used to transport passengers or cargo. Depending on the nation, the terms merchant navy, merchant marine, or merchant fleet may be used to refer to these vessels. There are a number of terms applied to the people who operate the ships, including merchant seaman, merchant sailor, and merchant mariner, or simply seaman, sailor, or mariner. The terms "seaman" or "sailor" may also refer to a member of a country's navy.

According to the 2005 CIA World Factbook, the world total number of merchant ships of 1,000 Gross Register Tons or over was 30,936. Statistics for individual countries are available at the List of merchant marine capacity by country.