The capacity of new containership deliveries totalled 1.39 million TEU in 2013, an increase of 9.6 compared to 2012, pushing the global box fleet up to 17.28 million TEU as of January 1, 2014, with total capacity rising 5.8 per cent last year.
A record 192 unit were scrapped in 2013 for 461,300 TEU, compared to 351,570 TEU the previous year, however, newbuilding deliveries continued to outpace deletions by a factor of three to one.
The containership orderbook reached 3.86 million TEU as at January 1 2014, up 12.4 per cent year on year on the back of a surge in new vessel orders in 2013. During the year 234 units for 1.83 million TEU were contracted.
The total value of the new ships ordered last year hit US$16.8 billion, more than three times higher than the total value of new orders made in 2012 when only 88 units for 490,000 TEU were ordered at a total price of $5.1 billion, according to Alphaliner figures.
This order surge will lead to record levels of ship deliveries in 2014 and 2015, which will prolong the capacity over-supply situation.
The idle fleet in 2013 averaged 601,000 TEU, or 3.6 per cent of the total fleet, and capacity idling is forecast to last for at least two more years.
Container freight markets remained under pressure for most of 2013, with the average CCFI index at 1,082 points or 7.6 per cent lower than the 2012 average.
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