The global containership fleet hit 21m teu of capacity this month, however, fleet growth has slowed according to Alphaliner.
The analyst said in its weekly newsletter that the global boxship fleet hit 21m teu on 2 November this year have crossed the 20m teu mark some 22 months earlier. This shows a marked slowing in overall fleet capacity growth which averaged 1m teu every 12 – 13 months between 2000 and 2015.
Increased scrapping in the period from August 2016 and February this year largely accounted for the slower growth with the fleet actually contracting slightly during in this period. Between August 2016 and February 2017 some 501,000 teu of tonnage was scrapped compared to just 430,000 teu of new tonnage added.
Growth though as resumed apace since March this year with some 930,000 teu of capacity delivered and just 230,000 teu scrapped.
The 22m teu mark for the global fleet is expected to be reached in a much shorter timeframe than the 21m teu level.
“The faster pace is expected to continue with the global fleet expected to breach 22m teu within the next 12 months due to the planned deliveries of over 80 ships of 10,000-21,000 teu during the coming year, while scrapping activity is expected to remain subdued,” Alphaliner said.
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