The sharp rise in global trade over the last decades has been a boon to the shipping industry. The number of large container ships, which move so much of the increased quantity of partially and/or fully finished products being traded internationally, has grown and that growth is anticipated to continue through 2016 according to the World Shipping Council. The size of those ships is also on the rise.

The capacity of container ships—referred to in the trade as cellular vessels as they are designed to efficiently load and store freight containers one on top of the other with vertical braces at the four corners—is measured in terms of twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), or the number of twenty-foot containers that the vessel can carry (these containers measure 20′ x 8′ x 8’6″). In the year 2000, the world fleet of container ships was primarily made up of ships with a capacity of 1,000 or fewer TEUs. Vessels this size made up approximately three-quarters of the world fleet. In 2012, they represented less than 30% of the fleet with much larger vessels dominating the trade. While the number of ships rose by only 2.8% between 2000 and 2012, the fleet’s carrying capacity almost tripled, rising 182%. So, the average per container ship capacity went from 1,200 TEUs in 2000 to 3,295 in 2012.

Today’s market size is the number and carrying capacity of cellular shipping vessels worldwide in 2000, in 2012, and a projection for where this fleet will stand in 2016.

Geographic reference: World
Year: 2000, 2012, 2016
Market size: Number of ships respectively: 4,828; 4,961 and 5,433
Market size: Carrying Capacity in million TEUs: 5.8; 16.34 and 19.83
Source: “Container Ship Types,” GlobalSecurity.org, July 7, 2011, available online here. “Cellular Fleet Forecast,” Alphaliner, February 2013, available online here.
Original source: Alphaliner
Posted on February 21, 2013