Record orders placed
Containerships are trumps – at least from 8,000 teu upwards. The international shipping organization Bimco has reported a record order backlog for containerships. Furthermore, the organisation assumes that liner shipping companies will increase their fleets in the coming years.
Last year was something of a record year for shipping. The Baltic and International Maritime Council (Bimco) has reported an order backlog of around 8.3 million teu for containerships. According to Niels Rasmussen, Bimco’s chief shipping analyst, this figure is above the previous high of 7.8 million teu from the beginning of 2023.
According to Rasmussen, ships with a capacity of 8,000 teu or more dominate the market. These account for around 92% of the order backlog capacity. Of these, ships with 12,000 – 17,000 teu form the largest segment, with a share of 46%.
According to the Bimco press release, shipyards in China in particular have benefited from the contract boom of the last four years. They currently hold 72% of the order backlog. In parallel, shipyards in South Korea and Japan hold 22% and 5% of it, respectively.
The average age of fleets is growing
Liner shipping companies currently have an total order capacity of 79%, although their share of fleet capacity only stands at around 61%. At the beginning of 2019, this share still came to 56%. Bimco expects this share to continue to grow in the coming years.
99% of this backlog will be delivered between 2025 and 2029. Five ships have already been contracted for delivery in 2030.
The average age of the fleet has increased by almost 18 months since 2020. In addition, 11% of the fleet is more than 20 years old, which corresponds to 3.4 million teu.
If these are recycled over the next five years, then the fleet will grow to around 35.8 million teu by 2030, which would correspond to growth of 16%. However, this will only be the case if no further ships are committed to before 2030.