The amount of container ship capacity on order has reached a record high. A total of 7.8 million TEU of boxship capacity is now on order, shipping intelligence service Alphaliner said in its weekly note on Wednesday, the highest level in the industry's history. The figure is equivalent to almost 29% of current total capacity in the global fleet.
187 ships were ordered in total in the first nine months of the year. "There are two obvious reasons why ordering continues at such as massive scale," Alphaliner said in the report. "Firstly, most carriers are still sitting on large amounts of cash after having made record profits in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. "Secondly, and more importantly, it is the desire to decarbonize liner shipping that drives the ordering frenzy." Ships capable of running on methanol represent 52% of the new capacity ordered this year, while those capable of running on LNG represent 31% of the capacity orders.