52% Micro
33% Small
9% Mid
4% Large
2% Mega
INSIGHTS - APRIL 2025
UK Shipping Industry
UK Shipping Industry Information
The water transportation industry includes the transport of passengers or freight by water using services such as cruises, ferries, pleasure boats, water taxis, freight ships, barges and rigs.
Active Businesses
3,498
Annual Sales
£30bn +
Employees
64,779
Economic Contribution
£9bn
Tags
Location of Shipping Companies
Shipping Companies by Size
Largest Shipping Companies
Turnover
Cnooc U.k. Marketing Ltd
£7.9bn
Sk Energy Europe Limited
£2.8bn
Rcl Cruises Ltd
£2bn
Shipping Companies by Age
28% Mature
26% Young
25% Established
21% Startup
0% New
Oldest Shipping Companies
Established
Fastest Growing Shipping Companies
33% Declining
23% Rapid
22% Healthy
15% High
7% Low
Fastest Growing Shipping Companies
3yr CAGR
Carnival Plc
135%
Shipping Industry Competitive Environment - New Entrants vs Leavers
Shipping Industry Valuation
EBITDA Multiple
Shipping Industry Valuation
Turnover Multiple
Shipping Industry Valuation
Net Asset Multiple
Note - from March 2020 multiples are calculated monthly, prior to this they were calculated on an annual basis.
UK Water transport Industry Insights
There are 3,498 active Businesses in the UK with combined annual sales of £30 billion .
The Industry employs around 64,778 people and contributes £9 billion to the economy.
The most popular location for Shipping companies is London with 1,314 and the fewest are located in Northern Ireland with 52.
The largest Shipping company is Cnooc U.k. Marketing Ltd with a turnover of £7.9bn. 52% of the industry is comprised of Micro companies with only 9% Mid companies.
21% of the Shipping Industry is made up of 21% Startup but the majority are Mature businesses (28%) the oldest company is Southampton Isle Of Wight And South Of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited founded in 1861.
Shipping industry has a number of high growth companies (15%), the fastest growing company is Van Oord Offshore Wind Uk Ltd. with a 3 year growth rate of 267%. Other fast growing companies include Marella Cruises Limited (228%), Csl Europe Limited (138%) and Carnival Plc (135%).
The UK Shipping Industry’s valuation has been improving over the past 3 years with a current EBITDA multiple of 6.43x, Turnover multiple of 1.47x and a Net Asset multiple of 1.53x.
