The order book for container ships is breaking all records this year. However, it is striking that it is mainly large and very large newbuildings that have been ordered.
Based on the latest data from Clarksons, newbuilds with a total capacity of 3.8 million TEU were contracted this year. This is more than double the previous year’s figure of 1.59 million TEU in 2023.
So far, 439 ships with a total of 2.66 million TEU have been delivered. This is also up on the previous year, when 372 units with 2.2 million TEU were delivered.
The distribution of orders across the individual size classes is remarkable. According to the broker MB Shipbrokers, 85% of all orders were placed for newbuildings with more than 7,000 TEU. Specifically, there are 160 in the 7,000 TEU to 15,000 TEU range and around 130 units with more than 15,000 TEU.
In contrast, only 50 ships were ordered in the segments with less than 7,000 TEU, i.e. from Panamax size downwards.
In view of the increasing demands on ships in terms of efficiency and compliance with climate regulations, there are signs of an impending bottleneck when it comes to smaller tonnage.
Scrapping on a large scale is still a long way off. According to Clarksons, only 55 ships with 79,000 TEU were scrapped in 2024. Even in the previous year, there were 83 units with 158,000 TEU.
