The global fleet of containerships above 500 twenty-foot-equivalent units made idle has breached the 1 million TEU mark amid depressed containership market, according to Alphaliner.
Just in the last two weeks, a total of 35 ships of 109,000 TEUs were made idle. The volume of idle capacity doubled since September, when idling of containerships across the global fleet reached the 500,00 TEU capacity mark, a new high for 2015.
This is the first time that the idle boxship fleet has surpassed 1 million TEUs since 2010.
What is more, the idle capacity is set to increase further as slack winter season approaches, Alphaliner believes.
The argument is further substantiated by sailing cancellations and service suspensions of shipping majors trying to come to terms with low freight rates.
The expansion of the idle fleet has also been attributed to widespread overcapacity spurred by ordering of new ships and slower than expected market growth, resulting in the market’s failure to absorb the surplus capacity.