In the June-July 2024 period, the shipping company WeberSeas registered contracts for 89 new vessels, with a capacity of 1.2 million TEUs.
This is the highest rate of orders since the pandemic period, according to freight brokers.
Based on the same sources, the order book currently accounts for 22% of the fleet in water in terms of tonnage. “The fleet is growing rapidly as new deliveries hit a record,” WeberSeas noted, estimating growth of 10% by the end of the year.
In the seven-month period of 2024, 144 orders for containerships have been placed, as indicated in the latest monthly report of the shipping brokerage Xclusiv Shipbrokers (data up to the end of July).
ULCVs, VLCVs and neopanamaxes lead the activity, with contracts recorded for 48, 28 and 27 vessels respectively.
Shipping broker MB Shipbrokers pointed out that new vessels have reached 1.5 million TEUs year-to-date, “well above our estimates at the start of the year.”
“We expect strong continued demand for new vessels in the remainder of 2024,” the analysts said, expecting 2.2 million TEUs of ships to be placed on order this year.
The same sources noted that the delivery times now offered by the yards extend to the end of 2027, with some exceptions.
The Xclusiv Shipbrokers report revealed that the active containership fleet currently consists of 6,464 ships, with a total capacity of 29.68 million TEUs, while the orderbook consists of 709 ships, with a capacity of 6.62 million TEUs.
