11 billion tons of goods are transported by ship annually. This amount equals to a 1.5 t per person based on the current number of world population. A process of shipping goods and materials from the place they are produced to a place they will be ultimately consumed is integrated in modern life. For an economic region such as the European Union, shipping accounts for 80% of total exports and imports by volume, and some 50% by value. As of 2019, the total value of the annual world shipping trade has reached more than 14 trillion US Dollars.

Each year, nearly 2 billion tons of crude oil, 1 billion tons of iron ore (the raw material needed to create steel), and 350 million tons of grain are transported by shipping transportation. This logistics would not be possible by road, rail or air. These types of raw materials give an opportunity to many countries to launch new industries, develop cities, house and move populations, transform resources into refined products for re-export.  An ability to create an additional cost drives prosperity and enables developing countries to be competitive.  Other multiple key products such as chemicals, refined fuels and manufactured goods are also shipped by sea. Shipping transportation has developed highly sophisticated logistics supply chain which makes parts and goods to be delivered to manufacturers and customers in time.