Last month, the global container ship fleet size surpassed 7,000 vessels for the first time, achieving this milestone just over three years after the fleet size crossed 6,000 vessels.

This rapid expansion marks one of the fastest phases of adding 1,000 vessels in the history of container shipping. According to Clarkson Research data, this rapid growth is primarily attributed to a surge in shipbuilding orders following the pandemic in 2021 to 2022. Analysts anticipate that the fleet size will rapidly grow from 7,000 vessels to 8,000 vessels in the near future.

Clarkson notes that since early 2024, there have been 936 new building orders globally, contributing to the continuous growth of the container ship fleet, with current scrapping levels almost unable to offset the incremental deliveries of new vessels.

Data indicates that there are currently 1,109 container ships under construction on the global order book, with 991 vessels scheduled for delivery by the end of 2028.

As of early November, the global container ship fleet reached 7,007 vessels, with a total capacity of 32.7 million TEUs.

Since the birth of standardized container shipping in the 1950s, the global container ship fleet first reached 1,000 vessels in 1985, followed by milestones in 1996 (2,000 vessels), 2002 (3,000 vessels), 2006 (4,000 vessels), 2010 (5,000 vessels), and crossing 6,000 vessels in 2022.