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A total of 619 container ships are now on order for future delivery, 381 of which were ordered in 2021
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The total orderbook of 5.3 million TEUs of shipping capacity is scheduled to be added to the fleet from 2023 onwards
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In February, March, April and June, a total of 60 container ships with a capacity of 16,000 TEUs each were ordered by just five different shipowners
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The more “versatile” 13,000-TEU to 16,000-TEU ships are preferred over the ultra-large container ships
A new record for new container ship orders has just been set in less than eight months, the result of carriers enjoying very healthy bottom lines and experiencing a lack of tonnage, according to the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO).
BIMCO in a recent analysis said 619 container ships are now on order for future delivery. Of those, 381 were ordered in 2021 alone, totaling 3.44 million TEUs, a volume never seen ordered in such a short time span.
Still, it’s not a record for the total orderbook, as 6.8 million TEUs were on order by the end of July 2008, compared to 5.3 million TEUs by late-August.
Peter Sand, BIMCO’s chief shipping analyst, said the orderbook of 5.3 million TEUs of shipping capacity is scheduled to be added to the fleet from 2023 onwards.
Entering 2021, the order book stood just at 2.5 million TEUs. Since then, a record high 3.3 million TEUs has been ordered, indicating that “shipowners are going big on investing in new capacity,” Sand said.
In February, March, April and June, a total of 60 container ships with a cargo-carrying capacity of 16,000 TEUs each were ordered by just five different owners. Half of them were ordered by two top-4 tonnage providers and one minor, while the other half was ordered by operating liner companies.
“It is very much a sign of the times too; you go big, or you don’t go at all. You order four, five or six ships, or as much as 20 units, in one go, and at one yard only. The buying power when you spend USD 2.5bn is significant,” said Sand.
As ship owners have observed different trade patterns forming in recent years, and still do, due to the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 outbreak, the more “versatile” 13,000-TEU to 16,000-TEU ships have been preferred over the ultra-large container ships (ULCS).
No more than 22 ULCS were ordered during the first seven and half months of 2021. In February, 14 units of 24,000-TEU to 24,100-TEU ships were ordered and in June, another eight units of 23,500-TEU to 24,000-TEU vessels followed.
Container shipping capacity of 1.5 million TEUs has been ordered so far in 2021 for delivery in each of the years 2023 and 2024. As the scheduled orderbook for 2024 today stands at 2.15 million TEUs, BIMCO noted that the record delivery year date back to 2015 when 1.66 million TEUs entered active service on the global container lines’ networks.
“In addition to orders for container ships, we have also seen some liner companies securing air cargo capacity for the short and longer term. To me that is in interesting development, as it indicates that liners are serving shippers to a greater extent than before by moving more cargo in different ways going forward,” Sand said.
Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash
