Shipyards have delivered a record 410 container ships in 2024, with orders more than doubling from last year despite fleet growth, according to BIMCO.
Shipyards have set a new annual record for container ship deliveries just ten months into 2024. A total of 410 ships with a combined capacity of 2.5m TEU have been delivered, surpassing the previous record of 2.3m TEU set in 2023. According to Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO, “Despite the rapid expansion of the fleet, owners continue to add orders for new ships.”
As the recycling of older vessels has remained low, the delivery of new ships has resulted in an 8.7% increase in the size of the global container fleet since the start of 2024. The fleet now comprises 6,699 ships with a total capacity of 30.4m TEU. This marks a 32% growth since early 2020, with 7.8m TEU being delivered during the first half of this decade — the highest five-year total on record.
Shipowners have continued to place new orders despite the fleet’s rapid expansion. In 2024, ship contracting has already more than doubled compared to last year, with 286 ships (totalling 3.3m TEU) added to the order book. As of now, the order book stands at 7.6m TEU, or 25% of the fleet’s total capacity, up from 5.9m TEU in early June. Rasmussen notes, “The order book has recovered from a dip earlier in the year and is now back at near-record levels.”
Though the order book is currently slightly smaller than the 7.8m TEU peak reached in early 2023, the order book for operating owners has hit a new high of 5.9m TEU. According to Rasmussen, operating owners now control 78% of the order book, but only 60% of the fleet. “Consequently, their fleets are growing faster than those of non-operating owners. Since the start of the decade, operating owners’ fleets have expanded by 41%, while non-operating owners have seen a more modest growth of 18%.”
Vessels with a capacity between 12,000 and 17,000 TEU have been the main contributors to fleet growth, accounting for 42% of the capacity increase since early 2020. “This segment will continue to drive growth, with ships of this size representing 47% of the capacity in the current order book. Meanwhile, ships larger than 17,000 TEU have contributed 25% to fleet growth in the 2020s and now account for 27% of the order book’s total capacity,” Rasmussen said.
“Looking ahead, an additional 0.5m TEU are scheduled for delivery by the end of 2024, pushing total deliveries for the year close to 3m TEU. Over the next four years, an average of 1.7m TEU are expected to be delivered annually, with 0.3m TEU already planned for delivery in 2029. However, further orders for delivery in the next five years are still possible,” the Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO added.
Rasmussen cautions that future fleet growth will depend on the pace of ship recycling. “As mentioned, the order book-to-fleet ratio is currently 25%, but actual fleet growth will be influenced by recycling rates. After several years of low recycling activity, 3.4m TEU will be over 20 years old by next year and are prime candidates for recycling in the coming years. If all these vessels are recycled within the next five years, the growth of the fleet from the current order book could be limited to 14%,” he concluded.