News / Oversupply alert as box ship orderbook hits another post-2008 high

© Bekir Ugur

The containership orderbook has hit yet another post-2008 high, now at 34% of the active fleet, following a string of orders in the past fortnight.

CMA CGM continues to close on Maersk, booking ten 22,000 teu LNG dual-fuelled ships at Dalian Shipbuilding, for delivery between 2028 and 2029.

CFO Ramon Fernandez said the French line’s orderbook now stood at 132 ships, with a capacity of 1.8m teu, just behind that of MSC and bigger than Maersk Line’s.

And said CMA CGM planned to own more than 160 dual-fuel vessels by 2029, so with vessels on charter, its fleet will comprise more than 200 vessels.

Last month, CMA CGM and Cochin Shipyard confirmed they had signed a letter of intent to build six 1,700 teu dual-fuel LNG vessels, with delivery starting in 2029.

But Mr Fernandez said: “It’s obviously not only about market share. The new ships we are ordering are dual-fuel vessels, and we need to decarbonise shipping collectively. We will only do so if we have green vessels.”

Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd, which has announced plans to procure up to 22 new ships of less than 5,000 teu, has reportedly begun shopping again. Linerlytica said the German operator had ordered eight 4,500 teu ships from CIMC Raffles and six at 3,500 teu from Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering, for delivery in 2028.

It is also said to be the charterer of four 4,500 teu vessels MPC Container Ships commissioned at Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry for delivery in 2028.

Thailand’s Regional Container Lines (RCL) continues its diversification into larger ships, ordering two of 14,000 teu from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.

RCL made a move into large vessels in 2022, commissioning the Ussama Bhum and Varanya Bhum at Japan’s Imabari Shipbuilding, which were delivered in 2024 and deployed on its Far East-Middle East services.

RCL also purchased two 2023-built 11,800 teu ships from the same shipbuilder and chartered the vessels to Zim Line for five years as Zim Thailand and Zim Bangkok.

RCL’s latest newbuildings, priced at $150m each, will be delivered in 2028 and will position its fleet for high-potential markets, said the company, a spokesperson telling The Loadstar that the company has yet to decide if the new ships will be self-operated or chartered to other carriers.

Greek tonnage provider Danaos and Vietnamese operator Hai An Transport & Stevedoring have each commissioned two 7,100 teu box ships from DSIC.

Hai An is on an expansion drive, and the newbuildings were commissioned through Hai An Green Shipping Lines, a joint venture with terminal operator Viconship. They represent a leap from the carrier’s previous focus on feeder vessels. Reportedly, with Vietnam growing as a manufacturing centre, Hai An is confident of rising exports.

Greek tonnage provider Conbulk Management has made its debut in the container segment, booking a 5,000 teu pair at mid-tier Yangzhou Guoyu Shipbuilding in China, after concentrating on tankers in recent years, while another Greek shipowner, Cape Shipping, is renewing its interest in the container segment, contracting a 3,100 teu pair at New Dayang Shipbuilding.

Intra-Asia specialist TS Lines continues to build up its owned fleet, ordering two 2,900 teu ships at Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding, for delivery in 2028, with options for two more, all priced at $40m each.

MB Shipbrokers said the week reflected “a notable rebound in contracting activity”, particularly in the large-size segment.

The Danish brokerage noted “solid demand for feeder and mid-size tonnage”, adding: “We expect to see a busy market going into the end of the year.”

Linerlytica noted that the orderbook-to-fleet ratio was now at a new post-global financial crisis high of 34%, which it warned “further raises the forward oversupply risk, with 2028 deliveries at a record 4.4m teu, with additional orders still to come”.