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’24 Boxship Deliveries Set Record, BIMCO

[ November 15, 2024   //   Gary G Burrows ]

Shipyards’ deliveries of container ships reached a new annual record just 10 months into 2024, said BIMCO, the organization for ship owners, charters, brokers and agents.
The 410 ships delivered with combined capacity of 2.5 million 20-foot equivalent units bettered the previous high of 2.3 million TEUs set in in 2023.
The container fleet has increased by 2.4 million TEUs, or 8.7 percent, since the beginning of 2024, as recycling of older ships has lagged the new vessel deliveries. The container fleet now comprises 6,699 ships with 30.4 million TEUs of capacity. Since early 2020, the fleet has grown 32 percent, with 7.8 million TEUs delivered representing the most of any five-year stretch.
“Despite the rapid expansion of the fleet, owners continue to add orders for new ships,” said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO. “So far this year, contracting is already more than double that of last year’s total and 286 ships with a capacity of 3.3 million TEUs have been added to the order book. The order book dipped to 5.9 million TEU in early June but is now back at 7.6 million TEUs, 25 percent of the size of the total fleet.”
Though the order book is marginally smaller than the 7.8 million-TEU record from early 2023, operating owners’ order book is at a record high of 5.9 million TEU.
Operating owners control 78 percent of the order book but only 60 percent of the fleet, BIMCO said, and will therefore see their fleet continue to grow faster than non-operating owners. So far this decade, operating owners’ fleet has grown 41 percent whereas non-operating owners’ fleet has grown only 18 percent.
Ships with a capacity between 12,000 and 17,000 TEUs have driven 42 percent of the capacity growth since early 2020 and will also be the main driver of growth in the coming years as they contribute 47 percent of the capacity in the order book. Ships larger than 17,000 TEUs have contributed 25 percent of fleet growth in the 2020s and make up 27 percent of the order book’s capacity.
Another 500,000 TEUs are to be delivered during the rest of 2024, driving deliveries for the year close to 3 million TEU. During the next four years, an average of 1.7 million TEUs are scheduled to be delivered each year and 300,000 TEUs are already planned for delivery in 2029. However, additional ships for delivery in the next five years can still be ordered.
“The order book to fleet ratio is currently 25 percent, but actual fleet growth will depend on future recycling,” Rasmussen said. “After a few years of very low recycling, 3.4 million TEUs will be more than 20 years old next year and prime candidates for recycling in the coming years. If they are all recycled during the next five years, fleet growth from the current order book can be limited to 14 percent.”
BIMCO, the direct-membership organization, represents about 62 percent of the global fleet.

Tags: BIMCO