Record high for container ship order book, says BIMCO

With a strong presence in the global container shipping arena, the U-Freight Group notes that BIMCO has announced that despite increasing trade policy uncertainty and falling freight rates, the container ship order book has continued to expand.

According to BIMCO, the order book now totals more than 1,350 ships with a combined capacity of 11.8 million teu.

In 2025, global average container freight rates fell an estimated 13% year-on-year while US import tariff increases raised concerns about increasing trade protectionism. Despite this, global container volumes grew 4.7% year-on-year, according to Container Trade Statistics, and shipowners ordered a record high 4.8 million teu of new ship capacity.

According to BIMCO, during the first two months of 2026, shipowners have ordered another 102 ships with a combined capacity of 665,000 teu, bringing the total order book to 11.8 million teu at the end of February; an increase of 28% year-on-year.

The very largest ships dominating the order book point to a development where larger ships will replace smaller ones throughout the global network of services. 436 ships with capacity of 12,000 teu or more are on order and make up 65% of the total capacity on order.

BIMCO notes it is the order book for the smaller ships that has grown the fastest during the past year. The order books for the 0-3,000 teu, 3-6,000 teu and 6-8,000 teu size segments have all more than doubled during the past year, whereas the rest of the order book has grown by only 17%.

The combined order book of the three smaller segments only makes up 16% of these segments’ current fleet capacity, however. As 29% of the capacity in the three segments is currently provided by ships 20 years old or older, recycling of older ships could thereby match, or even exceed, the number of new ships being delivered from the order book in the coming years.

BIMCO notes that the increasing number of very large ships on order is also driving a significant change in the container fleet’s ownership structure. At the beginning of the 2020s, non-operating owners controlled 43% of the capacity in the fleet. That has since fallen to 36% and will continue to fall as the non-operating owners only account for 24% of the capacity on order.

In concluding, BIMCO says that during 2025-2029, a total of 11.8 million teu is scheduled to be delivered. Even if all ships currently 22 years old or older are recycled before the end of 2030, the fleet would continue to grow on average 6.1% per year as it has done so far this decade. This could potentially create a rather challenging supply/demand environment for liner operators to manage.

U-Freight continues to monitor developments in global container shipping lanes closely. We remain committed to supporting customers with reliable, flexible transport solutions across air, sea and multimodal services, helping navigate route changes and maintain resilience in international supply chains.

For expert advice or further information on our ocean freight services, please contact your local U-Freight office or visit the ocean freight section of this website.