Container ship deliveries expected to soar in Q2

MORE services, slow steaming and ship deliveries have prompted a surge in the global container fleet expected in the next quarter, with total capacity set to increase by 430,0000 TEU, up from the 307,000 TEUs recorded in the last three months.

Total new deliveries for the year are expected expand the global fleet by as much as 9.6 per cent, Paris-based Alphaliner analysts have reported, with April orders alone set to account for an additional 150,000 TEU.

The rise in capacity is being met by a rise in demand. Sixteen new April ships, each over 5,000 TEU, have been assigned to new loops because of new ship purchases with Geneva's MSC expecting two new 14,000 TEU ships.

Continued slow steaming in response to high fuel costs, combined with the approach of the peak season have also absorbed a large part of the new supply.

The number of ships left idle now amount to less than nine per cent of the global fleet.

(Source: www.schednet.com)