Container Ships Surge: Prepare for a Tsunami of Maritime Trade

An unprecedented number of new container ships are about to enter service. Starting in March, the
pace of deliveries will pick up and as the months go by, more and more vessels will make their way into
service, showing no signs of slowing as far out as 2025. This massive increase promises a boost for
transport around the globe.

“The colossal orderbook is like a sword of Damocles hanging over the market, with a raft of new ship deliveries in the next months inevitably triggering a return of overcapacity,”

Alphaliner

“The colossal orderbook is like a sword of Damocles hanging over the market, with a raft of new ship
deliveries in the next months inevitably triggering a return of overcapacity,” warned Alphaliner, an
online reference for linear shipping.

“The change will be obvious from mid-March,” Alphaliner analyst Stefan Verberckmoes told American
Shipper. “This newbuilding wave is coming at a time of shrinking demand.”

Maritime Strategies International (MSI) forecasts a remarkable growth in cargo deliveries with estimates
of 717,900 twenty-foot equivalent units expected to be shipped this quarter – an impressive 62% rise
from the previous one. Even more encouragingly, MSI predicts that freight volumes will further grow by
4%, reaching 764,800 TEUs during Q3 of 2023.

Source: FreightWaves