The global containership fleet has passed the 23 million TEU in capacity mark as ultra-large newbuilds continue to be delivered.
According to analyst Alphaliner, the global container shipping fleet passed the 23 million TEU mark last week with the delivery of two 23,000 TEU newbuildings to MSC for deployment on the Asia–Europe trade with 2M partner Maersk Line.
The new milestone comes 14 months after the container shipping fleet passed the 22 million TEU in capacity mark in July 2018. The move up to 23 million has also been powered by a low scrapping rate. This year has seen 826,000 TEU in new capacity compared to just 165,000 TEU scrapped.
“A strong charter market gives owners little incentive to recycle ships, and several vessels that were initially bound for the breaking yards are now being kept in active service,” Alphaliner said in its weekly newsletter.
The analyst has lowered its scrapping forecast for the year from 350,000 TEU to 250,000 TEU.