Megamax orders push boxship orderbook-to-fleet ratio past 10%
673,500 teu ordered in last quarter of 2020, making it the highest intake of giant container ships in the last five years.
A total of 25 megamax ships were ordered in the closing months of 2020, according to data from Alphaliner. Of the 673,000 teu, 591,000 teu were for megamaxes in the 23,000 to 24,000 teu range, bringing the boxship orderbook-to-fleet ratio into double digit figures.
Major players OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and Shoei Kisen all placed orders, meaning 2.4m teu is on order, versus an extant fleet tonnage of 23.91 teu. Alphaliner’s analysis also revealed that interest for the first generation of megamaxes – the 23 row-across variant – has cooled.
Data shows that between June 2012 and October 2019, 105 megamaxes of the 23-row variant were delivered, ranging in size from 18,000 teu to 21,000 teu. Orders for this category currently stand at zero and all recent orders are for the 24-row variety.
