Container ship deliveries hit a new year-to-date (YTD) record of one million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), according to a new analysis by BIMCO, one of the largest international shipping associations representing shipowners.

"In 2023, 2.3 million TEU of container ship capacity was delivered, beating the former all-time high by 37%. Year-to-date, another record has been set as more than 1 million TEU has already been delivered during the first four months of the year, an increase of nearly 80% compared to the previous record," said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO of the delivery of container ship capacity which has already hit a new record high so far this year.

As ship recycling has only retired 19 smaller ships so far, the fleet has expanded by nearly 1 million TEU, a 3.5% increase compared to the beginning of the year.

Rasmussen said this adds to last year's fleet growth of 8.2%.

"Due to record deliveries, the order book has declined. However, as 1.8 million TEUs were contracted during 2023 and 2024, it has only declined by 1 million TEU and now stands at 6.1 million TEU, 21% of the current fleet size. As a result, the order book's share of the fleet is more than twice the size it was before the COVID pandemic and liner operators' contracting spree began," he added.

The order book contains 2 million TEU for delivery in 2024, and delivery volumes for the year are on target to exceed 3 million TEU, 30% higher than last year's record.

In 2025, deliveries should end just below 2 million TEU, the third highest deliveries in one year only exceeded in 2023 and 2024.

Rasmussen noted that despite this, deliveries are still some way off the record in relation to the fleet's size.

"In 2024, we expect deliveries to reach 11% of fleet capacity at the beginning of the year. That was most recently beaten in 2008 when deliveries made up 14% of the fleet," he said.

"The record-high ship deliveries were expected to create a significant oversupply in the market, and while this did impact the market in 2023, it appears that deliveries this year instead contribute to keeping global container trade moving."

The BIMCO chief shipping analyst noted that ships rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope following Houthi attacks in the Red Sea require about 10% more capacity to manage global container trades.

The capacity needed to manage any market growth should be added to those 10%.

"When ships start increasing sailings via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, we will most likely see significant oversupply," Rasmussen said.

"Between 2019 and 2023, the fleet grew 21% while container volumes only grew 4%. Between 2023 and 2025, the fleet is expected to grow another 15%," he added.