merchant marine vs shipping

merchant marine

noun
  • Synonym of merchant navy. The fleet considered as an entire combined force. 

  • A ship dedicated to commercial, rather than military, purposes. 

shipping

noun
  • The body of ships belonging to one nation, port or industry; ships collectively. 

  • The transportation of goods. 

  • Passage or transport on a ship. 

  • Navigation. 

  • The cost of sending an item or package via postal services. 

How often have the words merchant marine and shipping occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )