Eng
The aggressive strategy of some global maritime carriers, aimed at expanding their fleets and purchasing terminal assets, has forced other operators to ramp up their investments. While between 2016 and 2022, the global container fleet grew by an average of around one million TEU per year, over the past three years, its annual expansion has averaged around 2.5 million TEU. However, the peak in shipments is not expected until 2027–2028, when the annual tonnage brought into service is predicted to exceed 4 million TEU.
Even growing demand would not be able to keep up with such a large increase in the size of the fleet, but the growth is clearly slowing down. Reopening the route through the Red Sea would dramatically reduce the demand for tonnage by shortening the average transport distance.
According to Clarkson’s data, there has been a gradual recovery in shipping through the Suez Canal: in November, 269 vessels passed through the canal each week. This is around half of the usual number of ships prior to the start of the Houthi crisis, but much higher than the average of 229 ships per week during the first nine months of this year.