Last year saw a record number of orders for newbuilds – which is no surprise considering the massive profits shipping lines have been raking in thanks to Covid-induced rate escalations.
“Carriers were awash with money last year – and how best to spend it than on 4.2 million TEUs of capacity,” said Xeneta chief analyst and market expert, Peter Sand, in his weekly market update.
“There was a quadrupling of orders from 2020 – exceeding the 2007 record of 3.3m TEUs,” he added.
Questions have been raised about the prudence of the move, but only time will tell.
“We will see those ships developed in 2023/24 – and depending on the state of the global logistics chain, we will see the impact on rates.”
If the ships were available today, it would merely result in longer queues at ports – so the jury is out on that one.
