The growth in container ship size has been accelerating.
It took 30 years for the average container ship size to reach 1 500 TEU but just one decade to double from 1 500 to 3 000 TEU.
Between 2001 and 2008, the average size of newly built ships hovered around 3 400 TEU but then jumped to 5 800 TEU between 2009 and 2013, and hit 8 000 TEU in 2015.
Both the average size of new container ships and the maximum size are set to continue growing over the next five years. Shipping lines have already taken ownership of 20 megaships with a capacity of more than 18 000 TEU each and another 52 are on order, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The largest ship so far delivered has a capacity of 19 200 TEU, but carriers with capacity up to 21 100 have been ordered and will be in service by 2017.
Source: Maritime Executive, Reuters and Mike Poverello’s blog
