WORLDWIDE orders of containership capacity have increased 60 per cent year on year to 1.04 million TEU in the first half of 2015, reports Alphaliner.

Latest contracts are mostly for 18,000-TEU ships and above, with orders for 39 vessels of 18,000-21,000-TEU in the first six months of the year.

The last contract recorded by Alphaliner was Maersk's order of eleven 19,630 TEUer from Korea's Daewoo yards last week with options for six additional same-six units. 

This order brings the number of 18,000-21,000 TEUers ordered to 88. 

CMA CGM, which in March ordered three 20,600 TEU vessels, is to build six 14,000-TEU neopanamax ships with 19 rows of boxes abeam at Hyundai HI aimed at the FE-US trades. 

CMA CGM will have the largest ships capable of transiting the new Panama Canal locks, scheduled to open in 2016. These ships have a declared nominal intake of more than 13,200 TEU.

The Mediterranean Shipping Co's (MSC) order book dwarfs Maersk's - 701,000 versus 367,000 TEU. MSC is about to receive 20 ships of 19,200 TEU from Korean yards, two of which have been delivered.

But it is understood that these ships will first be introduced to the Far East-US west coast and will not initially transit Panama.