WITH carriers under pressure to modernize and expand their fleets both to meet the need for additional capacity as well as the emerging environmental regulations the dramatic growth and pace in container shipbuilding over the past few years is unlikely to slow down.

According to Alphaliner this is due to demand and the need to revitalize aging fleets, reports Fort Lauderdale's The Maritime Executive.

The orderbook for containership construction continues to reach new heights with Alphaliner reporting in an analysis that in terms of TEU capacity orders are the largest they have ever been.

Alphaliner's closely followed Top 100 ranking of the sector shows container shipping has reached new levels with a capacity of nearly 30.9 million TEU. They calculate there are 7,125 active vessels representing a total of 366 million dwt.

Despite the dramatic growth, Alphaliner says orders are at a high with the Top 10 ocean carriers alone having placed orders for 431 containerships.

While shipbuilding orders have overall slowed containerships remain strong.

Alphaliner points to the largest container carriers' building spree. Current orders they report represent 5.9 million TEU among the Top 10 carriers.

The number is more dramatic when considering the Top 10 currently have a capacity of approximately 25.8 million TEU meaning the orderbook is nearly 23 per cent of current capacity. Some of the orders are not yet committed with long-term charters meaning it is likely to drive the numbers even higher this year.

"This year's ordering frenzy was, at least in part, driven by carriers' ambitions to increase vessel efficiency and make greater use of alternative fuels such as LNG or methanol," observes Alphaliner.

The need for fleet renewal however is also a big driver behind the continuing orders says Alphaliner. They write that "some carriers simply need new tonnage to rejuvenate their fleets."

Alphaliner calculates that among the Top 10 carriers, lines still operate 683 vessels 20 years or older. That is nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of the total of approximately 3,800 vessels operated by the Top 10 carriers. These older vessels have a combined 2.6 million TEU of capacity.

Companies such as MSC have been sending a few of its oldest vessels for recycling.

Maersk in August detailed its fleet renewal efforts reporting it planned to add 50 to 60 new vessels with a total of 800,000 TEU of capacity.