The global outlook series on Merchant Shipping provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. Richly laden with quantitative analysis, the report offers discussion on the basics and structure of the Merchant Shipping industry. Annotated with 52 information rich tables presenting research findings, and analytical projections, the synopsized market discussion provides a statistical insight into global marine water transportation market size by region, marine ports and services market by region, leading cruise ship owners by gross tonnage/berths, trading fleet & merchant shipping fleet by ship type, cargo traffic by volume, containerized freight traffic by volume, container throughput across ports by region, chemical cargo, seaborne coal, and iron ore volume shipments by category, among numerous other parameters. Major regional markets discussed include United States, Europe, Russia, Spain, France, UK, Greece, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Latin America, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia, among others. The abstracted regional market discussions provide a prelude to these markets. The report also includes an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of 482 companies worldwide.