Ship Registration

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Panama continues to be a leader in vessel registration flags in terms of dead-weight tonnage (DWT) in 2022 there was a increase of 1.7% if compared to the year 2021.

The Panamanian registry of ships is open, this means that it does not require the owners of the ships to have Panamanian nationality or residence. The procedure for registration is under by Law 57 of 2008.

In 2022, 2,199,107 thousand dead-weight tons (DWT) were registered internationally, representing a growth of 2.95% compared to 2021.

As an interesting fact, Panama has 8,650 registered ships at the end of December 2022, which represents 16% of the world maritime fleet, according to the latest World Fleet Monitor of the Clarksons Research database (English company that manages the of data in the maritime field).

Source: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). 2020