North Korea
Shipping Industry Overview
Recorded shipowner/shipmanager links, deduplicated by IMO before calculating vessel totals and DWT. These links do not establish current control or active service. Company country differs from vessel flag; vessels can appear in more than one country.
DWT coverage: 438 of 448 vessels. Build-year coverage: 446 of 448. Classification recorded: 44 of 448. Age uses calendar build year; missing, pre-1900 or future years are “Unknown”. Missing DWT is excluded, not treated as zero capacity.
The 18–21-year age group is an age indicator only. Actual survey due dates are not available here. Repair visits are historical records labelled “repair”, not proof of a commercial preference. Company and group fleet totals can overlap.
Fleet Age Distribution
Vessel Types
Classification Societies
Top 15 recorded labels plus the remainder. These labels have not been independently verified.
Full breakdown
| Classification label | Vessels | Known DWT |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 404 | 2,053,329 |
| OTHER | 34 | 207,967 |
| UNKNOWN | 6 | 18,471 |
| RMRS | 3 | 10,479 |
| NKK | 1 | 76,255 |
Recorded Flags
Top 15 recorded labels plus the remainder. These labels have not been independently verified.
Full breakdown
| Recorded flag | Vessels | Known DWT |
|---|---|---|
| NORTH KOREA | 155 | 817,130 |
| Korea Democratic Peoples Republic of | 145 | 783,529 |
| Unknown | 42 | 205,159 |
| KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF | 30 | 113,498 |
| Korea Democratic Republic | 13 | 99,943 |
| North Korea | 11 | 34,414 |
| PANAMA | 5 | 26,967 |
| CHINA | 4 | 9,103 |
| Japan | 4 | 2,868 |
| Tanzania United Republic of | 4 | 19,376 |
| CAMBODIA | 3 | 4,016 |
| Panama | 3 | 112,004 |
| SIERRA LEONE | 3 | 9,378 |
| Cambodia | 2 | 8,059 |
| China | 2 | 5,832 |
| Fiji | 2 | 11,093 |
| KOREA, REPUBLIC OF | 2 | 19,836 |
| Mongolia | 2 | 2,706 |
| Palau | 2 | 10,648 |
| BANGLADESH | 1 | 16,400 |
| COMOROS | 1 | 5,801 |
| CUBA | 1 | 4,379 |
| DOMINICA | 1 | 1,999 |
| INDONESIA | 1 | 139 |
| Jamaica | 1 | 3,800 |
| Korea Democratic People's Republic of | 1 | 9,760 |
| Moldova Republic of | 1 | 5,400 |
| MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF | 1 | 1,827 |
| Nicaragua | 1 | 3,200 |
| NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS | 1 | 1,403 |
| SINGAPORE | 1 | 3,685 |
| SOMALIA | 1 | 3,560 |
| VIRGIN ISLANDS (U.S.) | 1 | 9,589 |
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About North Korea's Shipping Industry
North Korea has 299 registered shipping companies (ship owners and ship managers) linked to 448 IMO vessel records. The average fleet age is 38.8 years. This page provides analytics on vessel types, fleet age distribution, recorded classification societies, and the repair yards with recorded visits based on actual vessel visit data tracked by TrustedDocks.