Maritime Freight Transport Market Report 2025

This Maritime Freight Transport market report provides a comprehensive analysis of the market’s characteristics, size, and growth, including segmentation, regional and country-level breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends, and strategies. It also tracks historical and forecasted market growth across various geographies.

The maritime freight transport market size has grown strongly in recent years. It will grow from $371.98 billion in 2024 to $395.17 billion in 2025 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.2%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to growth in global trade and economic expansion, increase in demand for cost-effective and efficient transportation of goods, rise in liberalization of trade policies and reduction of tariffs worldwide, rise in outsourcing and offshoring of manufacturing to low-cost regions, increase in focus on sustainability and energy efficiency in maritime transport.

The maritime freight transport market size is expected to see strong growth in the next few years. It will grow to $496.43 billion in 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to growing oil and gas sector, increasing competition among shipping lines, rising demand for specialized cargo transport, rising strategic geopolitical developments, and rising demand for supply chain. Major trends in the forecast period include technological advancements, adoption of clean energy solutions, advancements in logistics, advancements in autonomous shipping, and advancements in maritime navigation systems.

The growth of the seafood export industry is expected to drive the expansion of the maritime freight transport market. Seafood export involves shipping products such as fish, shellfish, and other marine life from one country to another for international sale. This sector is growing due to rising global seafood demand, advancements in aquaculture and fishing technologies, and improvements in cold chain logistics. Maritime freight transport supports seafood export by offering a reliable and efficient method for transporting large quantities of perishable seafood to global markets, ensuring timely delivery and preserving product quality with refrigerated containers. For example, in 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that U.S. seafood exports reached a total value of $5.18 billion and a volume of 1.28 million metric tons, marking a 40% increase from previous years and reflecting strong demand and recovery. Consequently, the expanding seafood export industry is driving growth in the maritime freight transport market.

Leading companies in the maritime freight transport market are introducing fully automated navigational assistants to boost operational efficiency, enhance safety, and minimize human error in maritime operations. These navigational assistants improve route planning, optimize fuel use, and enhance vessel safety through advanced algorithms and real-time data analysis. For example, in January 2024, Orca AI, an Israel-based maritime technology firm, launched SeaPod, a fully automated navigational assistant designed to replicate and enhance human watchkeeping. SeaPod operates continuously, processing information from multiple sources within seconds to evaluate complex marine traffic situations in real time. It identifies, tracks, and classifies targets of various sizes and distances, presenting critical data through an intuitive interface. By automating target detection and risk prioritization, SeaPod significantly reduces the workload and fatigue of bridge officers, improving situational awareness and enabling quicker, more informed decision-making.

In October 2022, Lomar Shipping Limited, a UK-based company specializing in transportation, logistics, supply chain, and storage, acquired Carl Büttner Holding GmbH & Co. KG for $160 million. This acquisition of the 166-year-old shipowner and manager, known for its technical management expertise and maritime heritage, is part of Lomar’s strategy to further diversify and expand its fleet. Carl Büttner Holding GmbH & Co. KG, based in Germany, is a maritime shipping company focused on ship ownership and management.

Major companies operating in the maritime freight transport market are Maersk Line A/S, CMA CGM Group, COSCO SHIPPING Lines Co. Ltd., Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A., Hapag-Lloyd AG, NYK Line (Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha), Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Seaboard Marine Ltd., Wan Hai Lines Ltd., Evergreen Marine Corporation, HMM Company Limited, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Ocean Network Express Holdings Ltd., American President Lines LLC, Matson Inc., Crowley Maritime Corporation, National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), Samskip Holding B.V., Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line Group, Pacific International Lines, X-Press Feeders Limited, Eimskip, Ark Shipping Inc.

North America was the largest region in the maritime freight transport market in 2023. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the forecast period. The regions covered in the maritime freight transport market report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa. The countries covered in the maritime freight transport market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.

Maritime freight transport involves the movement of goods and cargo by sea using ships and other vessels. It is a crucial element of global trade and logistics, providing an efficient and cost-effective means of transporting large quantities of goods across international waters. This mode of transport links countries and regions, facilitating international trade by enabling the shipment of goods between distant markets.

The main types of vessels in the maritime freight transport market include bulk carriers, container ships, general cargo ships, reefer vessels, heavy lift cargo vessels, and roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessels. Bulk carriers are specialized ships designed for transporting large volumes of unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement. Maritime freight transport supports both short-distance and long-distance applications across various industries, including food and beverages, manufacturing, oil and ores, and electrical and electronics, among others.

The maritime freight transport market research report is one of a series of new reports that provides maritime freight transport market statistics, including the maritime freight transport industry global market size, regional shares, competitors with maritime freight transport market share, detailed maritime freight transport market segments, market trends, and opportunities, and any further data you may need to thrive in the maritime freight transport industry. These maritime freight transport market research reports deliver a complete perspective of everything you need, with an in-depth analysis of the current and future scenarios of the industry.

The maritime freight transport market includes revenues earned by entities by providing services such as cargo handling, ship chartering, freight forwarding, shipping logistics, customs clearance, and cargo management. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. Only goods and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD, unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

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