construction milestones when building a container ship

Megaships are being introduced into service between the Far East and North Europe, the world’s largest route by volume, where potential economies of scale are greatest, but are having a cascade effect on other routes.

The largest ship so far delivered has a capacity of 19,200 TEU, but carriers with capacity up to 21,100 have been ordered and will be in service by 2017. Shipping lines have already taken ownership of 20 megaships with a capacity of more than 18,000 TEU each and another 52 are on order, according to the OECD. It took 30 years for the average container ship size to reach 1,500 TEU but just one decade to double from 1,500 to 3,000 TEU.īetween 20, the average size of newly built ships hovered around 3,400 TEU but then jumped to 5,800 TEU between 20, and hit 8,000 TEU in 2015.īoth the average size of new container ships and the maximum size is set to continue growing over the next five years. The growth in container ship size has been accelerating. The size of container ships has been growing faster than for any other ship type according to the OECD’s International Transport Forum.īetween 19, the average carrying capacity of container ships increased 90 percent, compared with a 55 percent increase for dry bulk carriers and 21 percent for tankers (“The impact of megaships” 2015). Megaships, which can be up to 400 metres long, seem to be here to stay, not least because so many more are already on order, the product of high fuel costs and low interest rates.īut the trend towards larger vessels is not without problems especially for other businesses in the transport system and the trend could be nearing its limit as the economies of scale associated with megaships decline.Ĭontainer shipping capacity has doubled every seven years since the turn of the millennium and will reach nearly 20 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) in 2015 up from 5 million TEUs in 2000.īut since the financial crisis, container capacity has continued to grow rapidly, even as the growth in freight volumes has slowed, creating a massive overhang in shipping capacity and pressuring freight rates.Ĭapacity growth is being driven by the trend towards larger vessels.

LONDON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Container shipping lines are poised to take delivery of a new generation of “megaships” over the next two years, just as the growth of world trade is slowing down, contributing to massive overcapacity in the market.

Construction milestones when building a container ship