News
A total of 410 ships with a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs have been delivered, surpassing the previous full year high of 2.3 million TEUs in 2023,” according to Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO). The total capacity is foreseen to reach three million TEUs this year.
As recycling of older ships has remained low, the deliveries have increased the size of the container fleet by 2.4 million TEUs, or 8.7% since the beginning of 2024. The container fleet now consists of 6,699 ships with a capacity of 30.4 million TEUs. It has grown 32% since early 2020 as 7.8 million TEUs have been delivered during the first half of the decade.
Despite the rapid expansion of the fleet, owners continue to add orders for new ships. So far this year, contracting is already more than double that of last year’s total, and 286 ships with a capacity of 3.3 million TEUs have been added to the order book. The order book dipped to 5.9 million TEUs in early June but is now back at 7.6 million TEUs, 25% of the size of the total fleet."
Operating owners control 78% of the order book but only 60% of the fleet, and will, therefore, see their fleet continue to grow faster than non-operating owners. So far this decade, operating owners’ fleet has grown 41% whereas non-operating owners’ fleet has grown only 18%
Another 500,000 TEUs are scheduled for delivery in the rest of 2024, driving deliveries for the year close to three million TEUs. During the next four years, an average of 1.7 million TEUs are expected to be delivered each year. In 2029, however, deliveries are envisaged to fall to 300,000 TEUs.
