The global container shipping industry is witnessing an unprecedented surge in new vessel orders, with the container ship order book reaching a record 11.8 million TEU across more than 1,350 vessels, according to analysis by BIMCO.
Despite increasing trade policy uncertainty and declining freight rates, shipowners have continued to invest heavily in new tonnage. Global average container freight rates fell by an estimated 13% year-on-year in 2025, while rising US import tariffs raised concerns over growing protectionism in international trade.
However, demand remained resilient. Data from Container Trade Statistics shows that global container volumes grew by 4.7% year-on-year in 2025, encouraging shipowners to place orders for a record 4.8 million TEU of new capacity during the year.
The momentum has carried into 2026. In the first two months of the year alone, shipowners ordered 102 additional vessels totaling 665,000 TEU, pushing the global order book to its current record level—a 28% increase compared to the end of February 2025.
According to Niels Rasmussen, the composition of the order book highlights a structural shift in fleet deployment.
“The very largest ships dominating the order book point to a development where larger ships will replace smaller ones throughout the global network of services,” he noted.
A total of 436 vessels with capacities of 12,000 TEU or more are currently on order, accounting for 65% of the total TEU capacity in the order book.
Interestingly, while mega-ships dominate in capacity terms, smaller vessel segments are seeing the fastest growth in orders. The order books for ships in the 0–3,000 TEU, 3,000–6,000 TEU and 6,000–8,000 TEU categories have more than doubled over the past year, although together they represent only 16% of the current fleet capacity in those segments.
Fleet renewal is also expected to play a major role. Around 29% of vessels in these smaller segments are already 20 years old or more, meaning recycling of aging ships could potentially offset or even exceed new deliveries in the coming years.
The surge in orders for larger ships is also reshaping fleet ownership dynamics. At the beginning of the decade, non-operating owners controlled about 43% of global container fleet capacity, but that share has since declined to 36% and is expected to fall further as they account for only 24% of vessels currently on order.
Looking ahead, 11.8 million TEU of new capacity is scheduled for delivery between 2025 and 2029. Even if all vessels 22 years or older are recycled by 2030, the global container fleet could still expand by an average of 6.1% annually, potentially creating a challenging supply-demand balance for liner operators to manage in the years ahead.
