Just ten months into 2024, shipyards' deliveries of container ships have reached a new annual record, according to a new report by BIMCO, one of the largest international shipping associations representing shipowners.
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, said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO.
As recycling of older ships has remained low, the deliveries have increased the size of the container fleet by 2.4 million TEU (8.7%) since the beginning of 2024.
The report noted that 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, which is the most during any five-year period.
"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 TEU have been added to the order book," Rasmussen said.
"The order book dipped to 5.9 million TEU in early June but is now back at 7.6 million TEU, 25% of the size of the total fleet," he added.
The report said that though the order book is currently marginally smaller than the 7.8 million TEU record from early 2023, the operating owners' order book is at a record high of 5.9 million TEU.
BIMCO said operating owners control 78% of the order book but only 60% of the fleet, and therefore, their fleet will continue to grow faster than that of non-operating owners.
"So far this decade, operating owners' fleet has grown 41% whereas non-operating owners' fleet has grown only 18%," it added.
The report said ships with a capacity between 12k and 17k TEU have driven 42% of the capacity growth since early 2020 and will also be the main driver of growth in the coming years as they contribute 47% of the capacity in the order book.
Ships larger than 17k TEU have contributed 25% of fleet growth in the 2020s and makeup 27% of the order book's capacity.
Another 0.5 million TEUs are scheduled to be delivered during the rest of 2024, bringing the total for the year to close to 3.0 million TEUs.
BIMCO said during the next four years, an average of 1.7 million TEUs are scheduled to be delivered each year and 0.3 million TEUs are already planned for delivery in 2029.
However, BIMCO noted that additional ships for delivery in the next five years can still be ordered.
"As mentioned, the order book to fleet ratio is currently 25%, but actual fleet growth will depend on future recycling," Rasmussen said.
"After a few years of very low recycling, 3.4 million TEU will be more than 20 years old next year and prime candidates for recycling in the coming years. If they are all recycled during the next five years, fleet growth from the current order book can be limited to 14%, "BIMCO's chief shipping analyst added.
