Containership newbuilding orders in the first nine months of 2021 have surpassed the previous annual record of 3.4m teu in 2007, says a top shipbroker.
Between January and September this year 3.9m teu of capacity has been ordered, helped by a wave of extremely strong contracting, according to Clarksons.
The containership orderbook now accounts for 23% of the existing fleet, up 8% from the start of the fourth quarter in 2020 and the highest level since 2014.
Clarksons said larger ships account for the majority of teu capacity on order with ships over 12,000-teu accounting for 75% of capacity on order.
"There has also been resurgent interest for ships of 7,000-teu, with 51 ordered this year and ships of 3-8,000 teu now accounting for 13% of capacity on order," the shipbroker said.
Clarksons said the sub-3,000-teu sector has also seen "robust interest" with 270 ships of 500,000-teu now on order.
This record level of ordering has resulted in a significant increase in the delivery schedule between 2022 and 2024 with a total of 5.1m teu set to be delivered in those years.
"Whilst there is 1m teu scheduled in 2022, the 2023 schedule now totals 2.2m teu, compared to the record 1.7m teu delivered in 2015, while 2024 is also on track to see very strong deliveries, with 1.9m teu currently scheduled," said Clarksons.
The shipbroker said there could be some further upside to this figure. While yard space for 2024 for 7,000+ teu ships appears to have been largely 'committed', some further orders could still come to light, whilst there remains appetite in the smaller sectors.
Clarksons said the surge in ordering I likely to have a "material impact" on the pace of fleet growth between 2023 and 2024.
In one scenario, with limited demolition and slippage of 5%, it believes fleet capacity growth could surpass 7% in 2023 and 2024, representing a "significant acceleration" in fleet growth from the 4% expected in 2021 and 2022.
Even with stronger levels of demolition of around 400,000 teu per annum and slippage of 10%, Clarksons said fleet growth would still "pick up notably" to over 6% for 2023 and 2024.
However, the shipbroker said record levels of demolition of around 750,000 teu per annum could see fleet capacity growth of 4-5% in 2023 and 2024.
