Ships

4 ships from CMA CGM were forced to abort their attempted exit from the Persian Gulf on 18 April 2026 after Iran shut down the passage through the Strait of Hormuz less than 24 hours after announcing its re-opening. The 4 ships were part of a convoy of 12 ships that was led by the Apollo Easterns managed 1,030 teu ship BHAGYA LAXMI. She was followed by the 15,254 teu CMA CGM EVERGLADE, 2,592 teu CMA CGM MANAUS, 15,254 teu CMA CGM GALAPAGOS and 3,534 teu CMA CGM DIAMOND, while a second group of

COSCO has sent the 18,982 teu CSCL ARCTIC OCEAN and CSCL INDIAN OCEAN through the Strait of Hormuz on 30 March 2026, becoming the first containerships not linked to Iran to leave the Persian Gulf since the 2,553 teu SSF LEO made it out on 3 March 2026. It follows an aborted attempt on 27 March 2026 when both vessels turned back just south of Qeshm and returned to shelter off Dubai. Both ships are operated by COSCO on the OCEAN Alliance Far East-Middle East 5 (MEA5 aka MEX/ME5/CMEX) service with

The 18,982 teu CSCL ARCTIC OCEAN and CSCL INDIAN OCEAN have aborted their first attempted passage of the Strait of Hormuz on 27 March 2026, which would have marked the first containerships that are not linked to Iran to leave the Persian Gulf since the 2,553 teu SSF LEO made it out on 3 March 2026. Both ships turned back just before passing the Hormuz in the morning of 27 March 2026 and are headed back to shelter at Dubai. They are operated by COSCO on the OCEAN Alliance Far East-Middle East 5

The vote to delay the Net-Zero Framework on 17 October 2025 reveals a deep split between IMO member states with the EU pushing the decarbonization agenda along with smaller island states that stand to gain the most from the NZF while the US and most of Asia were opposed to the adoption of carbon pricing on shipping. Countries that voted for the delay included the US, China and Russia along with other major oil exporting nations. Singapore was the only Asian country to vote against the motion to

IMO member states voted 57-49 to adjourn the MEPC meeting for one year on 17 October 2025, delaying the adoption of the Net-Zero Framework (NZF) which raises investment uncertainty for new containerships although it will not stop the ongoing wave of new ship orders. Owners have added a further 240,000 teu to the orderbook in the last 2 weeks, bringing total new containership orders in 2025 past the 4m teu mark. Containership owners and operators are already ahead of other shipping segments in t

The number of new containerships ordered in the first 9 months of 2025 has reached 385 units for 3.36m teu. Full year numbers could match the record of 4.67m teu ordered in 2024 and 4.74m teu ordered in 2021 if the current pace of new ship contracting continues. The orderbook reached 32.2% of the operating fleet, and planned deliveries will hit 2.9m teu in 2027 and 3.8m teu in 2028. The new deliveries will far exceed the projected scrapping of older vessels in the coming 3 years. The widebeam

Only 12 containerships with a total capacity of 8,465 teu have been scrapped so far this year, with a further 6 ships lost at sea or converted to other usage. However, there are numerous candidates for removal from service, which in our view are older vessels facing substantial capital expenditure. Currently, 52 ships totaling 98,882 TEU are over 25 years old and due for special survey. Notwithstanding the low level of vessel deletions recorded so far this year, a larger challenge lies ahead a

The containership orderbook has reached a record high of 10.4m TEU, following the flurry of new ship orders placed in the last 12 months, with the orderbook ratio rising to 31.7% of the fleet - its highest levels since 2010. The last time the orderbook ratio exceeded this level in 2004-2009, it ended in a decade-long supply overhang that took 10 years to clear. There is still over 1m TEU of pending ship orders that are due to be added before the end of this year.

Global container throughput growth have been revised upwards and is expected to grow by 2.6% in 2025, in line with the IMF’s revised global GDP growth outlook released last week due to cargo front loading during the first half of this year, lower effective US tariff rates, improved financial market and government fiscal stimulus by several key countries. Despite the revision, the US tariffs have already spurred higher inflation and slower job growth which will lead to slower growth in the 2nd h

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on 30 July 2025 the addition of 22 containerships to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list for their alleged links to Iranian interests. A total of 143 ships including 71 crude oil tankers, 42 product tankers and 5 LPG tankers were included in the list that are alleged to be part of the shipping assets controlled by Hossein Shamkhani that have been used to transport oil and petroleum products from Iran