THERE are currently another 624,000 slots of container newbuilds, combined ship orders split between just two owners which are larger than the extant fleet of ZIM, the world's tenth largest carrier, according to Singapore's Splash 247.

Multiple broking reports list France's CMA CGM ordering ten 24,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel boxships at Jiangsu Yangzijiang in China at a cost of US $240 million each, with delivery expected in 2026. Including its orderbook, CMA CGM's total fleet is now larger than Maersk's, second only to Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) in the global liner rankings tracked by Alphaliner.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Evergreen has placed firm orders for twenty-four 16,000 TEU ships with Nihon Shipyard and Samsung Heavy Industries, with the latter receiving the majority of the ships. The Evergreen ships will all deliver in 2026 and 2027, and are methanol dual-fuelled, with a price tag of $175 million each.

Container shipping has ordered record quantities of boxships in the past three years, with today's orderbook standing at around 8 million TEU.

According to data from Clarksons Research, by the end of 2025 the global box fleet will have reached 30 million TEU, 15 per cent larger than current levels. The 20 million TEU mark was broken in 2017.