1. TankerMap fleet snapshot
TankerMap currently tracks 7,303 tanker profiles in its canonical public fleet database, including 3,396 crude tankers, 3,020 product and chemical/product tankers and 883 LNG carriers. Within the current crude fleet, the size-band counts are 974 VLCCs, 759 Suezmax tankers and 1,270 Aframax tankers.
These numbers update continuously from the same canonical vessel records that power the live vessel directory, so every class figure on this page can be reproduced by browsing the matching fleet segment. Class names in commercial shipping overlap and shift over time, which is exactly why reproducible counts from a stated rule set are more useful than a bare assertion.
| Class | Vessels | Average age, years | Build year known | Top flags (vessels) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LNG | 883 | 10.0 | 883/883 | Marshall Islands (150), Liberia (100), Bahamas (87) |
| VLCC | 974 | 13.8 | 974/974 | Liberia (197), Marshall Islands (162), Hong Kong (90) |
| Suezmax | 759 | 12.8 | 759/759 | Marshall Islands (141), Liberia (135), Greece (81) |
| Aframax | 1270 | 13.1 | 1270/1270 | Marshall Islands (210), Liberia (196), Russia (120) |
| Product | 3020 | 14.8 | 3012/3020 | Marshall Islands (577), Liberia (428), Panama (286) |
| MR | 2291 | 14.0 | 2291/2291 | Marshall Islands (509), Liberia (346), Panama (213) |
Age uses calendar years and only records with a known build year. Missing flags are excluded from the ranking. MR is part of the product fleet; do not sum rows. This describes TankerMap records, not the entire world fleet.
2. What DWT actually measures
Deadweight tonnage (DWT) is the total carrying capacity of a ship: cargo, fuel, ballast water, fresh water, lubricants, crew and stores combined. It is the standard yardstick for tanker size classes because it is declared for nearly every commercial vessel and is comparable across designs.
DWT is not the weight of the ship itself - that is lightweight displacement - and it is not the volume of cargo aboard on any given day. A VLCC leaving a loading berth may be at its full ~300,000 tonnes deadweight with roughly two million barrels of crude, while the same ship in ballast carries almost no cargo but still keeps its class name.
Other size descriptors you will meet:
- CBM (cubic metres) for liquefied gas cargoes such as LNG and LPG, where tank volume matters more than mass.
- Barrels for crude and product trades in the Atlantic market: one tonne of crude is roughly 7.3 barrels depending on density.
- LOA, beam and draft - length overall, width and loaded depth - which decide which ports, berths and canals a ship can physically use.
Because DWT bundles cargo with fuel and stores, two ships of equal DWT can carry somewhat different cargo quantities. Treat class boundaries as engineering conventions, not physical laws.
3. Size-class comparison table
The table below summarizes the commonly used crude and product tanker classes with typical figures. Individual ships vary; canal and port eligibility always depends on the current rules and the specific ship's dimensions.
| Class | Typical DWT | Approx. cargo | Typical LOA | Typical laden draft | Canal notes | Representative routes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ULCC | 320,000–550,000 | 2.9–4+ million bbl | 380–458 m | 22–25 m+ | Few waterways admit them fully loaded; lightering common | Legacy Persian Gulf–Europe/Nippon trades, storage |
| VLCC | 200,000–320,000 | 1.8–2.2 million bbl | 330–342 m | 20–22 m | Suez possible with limits; Malacca depth is comfortable | Persian Gulf–Asia, US Gulf–Asia |
| Suezmax | 120,000–200,000 | 0.9–1.3 million bbl | 260–280 m | 16–18 m | Designed around laden Suez transit | West Africa–Europe, Black Sea–Med, Basrah–Suez |
| Aframax | 80,000–120,000 | 600–800 thousand bbl | 240–255 m | 14–16 m | Fits most canal systems | Baltic, North Sea, Med, Caribbean, Indonesia exports |
| Panamax | 60,000–80,000 | 450–600 thousand bbl | 220–230 m | 12–13 m | Original Panama locks sized this class | Regional crude and product moves across the Pacific and Caribbean |
| LR2 | 80,000–120,000 | 600–750 thousand bbl products | 240–250 m | 13–15 m | Similar to Aframax hull sizes | Middle East Gulf–Asia product runs, naphtha and diesel |
| LR1 | 55,000–80,000 | 400–600 thousand bbl products | 220–240 m | 12–14 m | Panama neolocks usually passable | Cross-Med, Continent–US products |
| MR | 37,000–55,000 | 300–450 thousand bbl products | 180–200 m | 11–12 m | Passes nearly everywhere | Intra-Asia, Transatlantic products, clean/chemical parcels |
| Handysize | 10,000–40,000 | 90–350 thousand bbl products | 140–180 m | 9–11 m | Smallest terminals and river ports | Regional distribution, niche chemicals |
The live VLCC fleet, Suezmax fleet, Aframax fleet and product tanker fleet let you check these bands against real ships currently broadcasting positions.
4. The main crude tanker classes in detail
ULCC (Ultra Large Crude Carrier): above roughly 320,000 DWT. Only a handful were ever built after the late-1970s tanker glut, and today they survive mainly as floating storage or on routes with dedicated deep-water infrastructure. The largest ship ever built - the Seawise Giant, later Knock Nevis - exceeded 560,000 DWT at 458 metres long and could not navigate the English Channel fully loaded. No ULCC segment page exists on TankerMap because the live population is tiny; they appear inside the broader crude fleet in the vessel database.
VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier): 200,000 DWT and above in TankerMap's public classification, typically 200,000–320,000 DWT. A typical VLCC carries about two million barrels of crude, draws over 20 metres loaded, and is the workhorse of long-haul crude trade - above all the Persian Gulf to North Asia route through the Strait of Hormuz. Because their draft and air draft restrict many terminals, VLCC voyages often involve offshore loading points, single-point moorings or ship-to-ship transfer at designated areas. Browse the live VLCC fleet.
Suezmax: 120,000–199,999 DWT. The name reflects the size historically associated with a laden Suez Canal transit; the modern canal has no locks, and actual eligibility depends on beam, draft and current canal rules rather than the class label alone. Suezmaxes balance long-haul capacity with far wider terminal access than a VLCC, which makes them the default on West Africa–Europe, Black Sea–Mediterranean and Red Sea routes. Closure or risk premium events on Suez re-route these ships around the Cape of Good Hope at a large cost in days. Browse the live Suezmax fleet.
Aframax: 80,000–119,999 DWT. The name comes from the Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA) system, not from a canal. Aframaxes are the regional workhorses of the Baltic, North Sea, Mediterranean, Caribbean and Southeast Asia, where berth length, draft and parcel-size economics favor them. They also dominate crude exports from ports that simply cannot receive larger tonnage. Browse the live Aframax fleet.
5. Panamax, LR1, LR2, MR and Handysize
Below the classic crude classes sit the product-carrying families, whose names come from canals, trading ranges and freight-rate systems rather than cargo type guarantees.
Panamax traditionally describes ships sized for the original Panama Canal locks: roughly 294 m LOA, 32.3 m beam and about 12 m draft. The Neopanamax locks opened in 2016 raised those limits, so today the term mostly survives as shorthand for the 60,000–80,000 DWT band. Modern eligibility depends on current dimensions and canal restrictions, including seasonal draft adjustments during drought periods.
LR2 (Long Range 2) product tankers span roughly 80,000–120,000 DWT - hull sizes overlapping the Aframax crude band - and are the standard carriers of diesel and naphtha on Middle East Gulf to Asia runs. LR1 ships (about 55,000–80,000 DWT) fill a similar role on shorter-haul clean-product trades.
MR (Medium Range) tankers of roughly 37,000–55,000 DWT form the most numerous product class worldwide. They carry gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and vegetable oils between almost any two terminals with decent draft, and their flexibility makes them the benchmark for refined-product freight rates. See the live MR fleet.
Handysize tankers (roughly 10,000–40,000 DWT) reach small regional terminals, river ports and depots that deeper vessels cannot serve, making them the final link in product distribution chains.
Industry labels overlap: DWT, cargo system (coated versus stainless or IMO-type tanks) and declared vessel type should be read together rather than treating a class name as a precise cargo guarantee. A "Chemical/Oil Products Tanker" may carry clean petroleum products one voyage and vegetable oil the next.
6. Why size changes routes
Tanker size affects draft, berth compatibility, canal eligibility, voyage economics and the need for lightering or ship-to-ship transfer. Four constraints dominate route choice:
Depth and berth limits. A loaded VLCC draws over 20 metres and needs a terminal built for it: Ras Tanura, Ju'aymah, offshore single-point moorings or deep-water import berths in Asia. An Aframax or MR can call at dozens of ports a VLCC physically cannot enter, which is why regional trades fragment into smaller parcel sizes.
Canal policy. Suez has no locks but enforces draft and beam limits and a convoy system; Panama has two lock generations with different maximum dimensions; Malacca's controlling depth shapes the largest drafts practical on the Asia route. When a canal restricts traffic, the size classes feel it differently: see current movement in strait analytics.
Economics of scale. Cost per tonne-mile falls as ships grow, which pushes long-haul crude onto VLCCs wherever volumes allow. The counterweight is flexibility: an MR can find a part-cargo for almost any port pair, while a VLCC needs a terminal match at both ends.
Lightering and STS. Where a big ship cannot berth, cargo is often lightered into smaller vessels or transferred ship-to-ship at designated areas. These operations are visible as position patterns and matter when interpreting tracks in the oil tanker tracker.
VLCC traffic is prominent on Persian Gulf–Asia routes through Hormuz; Suezmax vessels dominate Atlantic Basin and Mediterranean flows; Aframaxes are widely used in the Baltic, Mediterranean, North Sea and Caribbean. A class describes capability, not a fixed itinerary: the current AIS track and port history remain the evidence for an individual voyage.
7. How TankerMap classifies vessels
TankerMap applies explicit DWT bands only to canonical records identified as crude oil tankers: VLCC at 200,000 DWT or more, Suezmax from 120,000 to below 200,000 DWT, and Aframax from 80,000 to below 120,000 DWT. Product and chemical/product tankers form their own segment counted separately from crude, and LNG carriers are selected by the recorded vessel type rather than a DWT band. Missing or uncertain DWT is never guessed into a band.
This rule set makes fleet counts reproducible: anyone can derive the same numbers from the public profiles. Commercial data providers may draw slightly different boundaries - some place the VLCC floor at 250,000 DWT or split Suezmax at 150,000 - so expect small differences against broker reports. What matters for analysis is consistency inside one source.
See the tanker glossary for DWT, draft, laden and ballast definitions, the LNG carrier types guide for gas-ship classification, and how AIS tracking works for why a live position should always be read together with its observation timestamp.
8. Frequently asked questions
How big is a VLCC?
A typical VLCC is 200,000–320,000 DWT, about 333 metres long and 60 metres wide, drawing roughly 20–22 metres fully loaded. It carries around two million barrels of crude oil.
How many barrels of oil does a tanker carry?
It depends on the class: an Aframax carries roughly 600,000–800,000 barrels, a Suezmax about 900,000–1,300,000 barrels, and a VLCC approximately 1.8–2.2 million barrels. Product tankers are smaller: an MR carries roughly 300,000–450,000 barrels of refined products. Exact barrels per tonne depend on cargo density.
What does DWT mean on a tanker?
Deadweight tonnage (DWT) is the total weight a ship can carry: cargo plus fuel, ballast water, fresh water, stores and crew. It is the standard measure used to define tanker size classes, but it is not the weight of the ship itself and does not state how much cargo is aboard on a given day.
What is the largest oil tanker ever built?
The Seawise Giant, later renamed Knock Nevis, was the largest ship ever built at about 564,650 DWT and 458 metres long. She was too large to navigate the English Channel fully loaded and ended her career as a floating storage vessel before being scrapped in 2010.
What is the difference between a Suezmax and an Aframax?
Size and typical trade. A Suezmax is 120,000–200,000 DWT and usually moves crude on longer hauls such as West Africa–Europe or Black Sea–Mediterranean. An Aframax is 80,000–120,000 DWT and dominates shorter regional routes - Baltic, Mediterranean, Caribbean - where port draft and parcel size favor a smaller ship.
Can a VLCC transit the Suez Canal?
Usually yes, within the canal's current draft and beam limits, though the busiest VLCC trades run east through Hormuz rather than west through Suez. Eligibility always depends on the individual ship's loaded dimensions and the canal authority's rules at the time, not on the class name.