The containership orderbook has risen to 11.61m TEU, accounting for 34.8% of the current fleet on the back of a record number of ships ordered in 2025. The carriers’ appetite for new ships goes beyond their fleet renewal needs and raises the spectre of over-supply in the next 4 years.
After failing to secure rate increases earlier this month, carriers are pushing ahead with another series of rate hikes in mid-December with mixed success. Although the SCFI surged by 7.8% last Friday, carriers have already started to roll back part of the rate increases.
The Premier Alliance carriers are the first to announce their 2026 service network with 2 additional Transpacific PSW services and the upgrade of one Asia-North Europe string starting from April 2026, setting the stage for further intensification of carrier competition. The 3 partners in the Alliance did not commit to a return to the Suez route and will retain the current Cape of Good Hope routing until further notice.
Johnson Leung
New containership orders hit record high in 2025
The addition of COSCO and Hapag-Lloyd’s new orders last week has lifted the total number of containership ordered in 2025 to 633 ships for 5.08m TEU, surpassing the previous record of 4.74m in 2021 and 4.77m in 2024. Despite the threat of US actions against Chinese shipbuilding, China’s shipyards still secured the bulk of the contracts this year, accounting for 497 units (79%) and 3.66m TEU (72%). South Korean yards regained some lost ground with its capacity share rising from 11% in 2024 to 27% in 2025 with 1.35m TEU added this year.
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