“At the end of 2024, the container ship orderbook was 8.3m TEU, a new record compared with the previous high of 7.8m TEU in early 2023,” pointed out Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO, who wrote the following analysis.
As 4.4 million TEUs were contracted during 2024, the second highest ever, the orderbook grew despite deliveries hitting a new record high of 2.9 million TEUs.
Making up 92% of the orderbook capacity, ships of 8,000 TEUs or larger dominate the orderbook. The largest segment, 12,000-17,000 TEUs, makes up 46% of the orderbook capacity, according to Rasmussen.
Shipyards in China have benefitted the most from the last four years’ contracting boom and currently hold 72% of the orderbook’s 8.3 million TEUs while South Korean and Japanese shipyards hold 22% and 5% respectively.
Liner operators control 79% of the orderbook capacity, significantly higher than the 61% they control of the fleet capacity. Having already increased from 56% at the beginning of 2019, liner operators’ share of fleet capacity is therefore set to continue growing in the coming years.
