[050710.EN.SEA] Active Box Ship Capacity Rises To 13.32 Million TEU

DURING the first half of 2010 the active container ship capacity has grown by 15.3 per cent, increasing from 11.55 million TEU at January 1 to 13.32 million TEU by the end of June, according to Alphaliner figures.

It said the 1.78 million TEU increase includes new ship deliveries of 740,000 TEU and the reactivation of idle ships, accounting for 1.16 million TEU, while 120,000 TEU of cellular capacity was removed through scrapping and conversions.

The total cellular fleet (active and idle) has reached 13.67 million TEU, up from 13.06 million TEU at the beginning of January.

"Despite the influx of newbuildings, the idle capacity dropped from 1.51 million TEU at January 1 to 350,000 TEU by end June.

This was largely due to the higher-than-expected recovery in demand in the first half of the year and to the impact of extra slow steaming, which has absorbed an additional 320,000 TEU in six months," Alphaliner said.

The capacity of container ships scrapped in the first six months of the year has hit 111,000 TEU. A further 8,500 TEU was removed through conversions of container ships into other ship types, including bulk carriers and sheep carriers.

Source : HKSG, 05.07.10.