Global Boxship Orders Surge Past 9 Million TEU

France’s CMA CGM and Taiwan’s Evergreen are the latest global shipping giants to expand the record-breaking containership orderbook, pushing total vessel orders beyond the 9 million TEU mark.

According to Alphaliner, Evergreen is seeking to commission eleven 24,000 TEU megamax vessels.

Meanwhile, CMA CGM is reportedly finalizing a contract with CSSC Group in China for twelve 18,000 TEU ships, just days after confirming an order for 12 compact 18,000 TEU containerships with South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).

Additionally, Hapag-Lloyd has returned to South Korea, securing six 16,800 TEU vessels from Hanwha Ocean, as reported by Splash.

“Many projects remain under discussions in both South Korea and China, and we expect to report the finalization of several projects in the coming weeks,” noted the latest MB Shipbroking container report. It further stated, “With fairly limited demand for new tanker, gas, and bulk carrier orders, a number of shipyards remain heavily focused on container newbuilding projects. As a result, we have seen a stabilization of pricing and, with slightly lower interest rates, a softening of payment terms.”

By the end of 2024, the containership orderbook had already hit 8.3 million TEU, surpassing the previous peak of 7.8 million TEU in early 2023, according to BIMCO analysis published in January.

In the first six weeks of 2025, the record-breaking trend has continued. With the confirmation of these latest orders, the global orderbook has now exceeded 9 million TEU for the first time in history.

Currently, the global containership fleet stands at 31.7 million TEU. Notably, in June 2024, the global liner vessel fleet crossed the 30 million TEU milestone for the first time.

The expansion of the global container fleet has been extraordinary. While it took the industry nearly 50 years to reach the 5 million TEU mark in 2001, the jump from 20 million TEU to 30 million TEU was achieved in just seven years.