Ageing containership fleet poses challenges
The average age of containerships has reached 14.2 years, the highest among major shipping sectors, says Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at Bimco, one of the largest international shipping associations representing shipowners.
Over the past 13 years, the container fleet’s average age has increased by 4.3 years, with 21% of ships now over 20 years old. Most notably, almost 70% of all containerships are over ten years old, built for the slow-steaming principles in the last decade to reduce energy consumption.
Despite the recent container freight rate downturn, ship recycling in 2023 remains low, with only 57 ships recycled in the first nine months, compared to an average of 81 in the past ten years.
Rasmussen believes that the order book, with 750 ships due by the end of 2025, could lower the average age and improve energy efficiency while increasing the use of low-carbon fuels. (pb)