Rapid rise in container ship orders hinders recovery

According to reports, container ship orders rose by more than 3.6 million TEUs, reaching a new high of 3.67 million TEUs in 14 months, equivalent to 21.5% of the existing fleet. In the past two months, a series of new orders for large ships increased by more than 60 in the third quarter. Million TEU. Orders for new ships are mainly concentrated on large ships. This new order was triggered by Maersk’s new 3E-class 18,000teu shipbuilding plan at the beginning of 2011, prompting other carriers to order similar ships to compete effectively with Maersk's 3E-class giant.

Although the new shipbuilding, which accounts for 21.5% of the current fleet size, is still below the historical highest level, the recent orders will increase the long-term supply of large-scale vessels, and will continue to have an impact on small vessels through replacement. At present, the idle capacity is roughly 400,000 TEU, which is about 2.3% of the global fleet. It is expected to increase to 600,000 TEU by the end of the year and the most affected will be the 3500-5100TEU ship type.