While container shipping rates remain highly volatile in a challenging geopolitical and economic environment, shipyards building container vessels are operating at full capacity and will continue to do so in the near future. This trend is highlighted by Alphaliner's latest report, which indicates that the current order book is the largest ever in terms of TEU capacity. Notably, the top ten shipping companies have 431 units on order, with a combined capacity of 5.9 million TEUs.
In September 2024, Alphaliner recorded over 130 orders, totaling 1.8 million TEUs, surpassing the previous record from the first quarter of 2021, when orders amounted to 1.77 million TEUs. A significant portion of these orders involves fleet renewal. Alphaliner estimates that around 44% of the order book of the top ten carriers will be used solely to replace ships currently in service. Today, these companies operate 683 vessels that are twenty years old or older, with a total capacity of 2.6 million TEUs.
