SIMIC

Now after years of few orders of mid-sized container tonnage, 2021 has seen orders increase with the 7,000-TEU size, a new workhorse design for the industry.

Alphaliner tallies 58 orders for 7,000-TEU class ships so far this year, tonnage that will deliver from early 2023 through to early 2025.

"It is rare for the container liner market to witness the formation of an entirely new vessel class, but every once in a while, new built series of ships with comparable parameters gather sufficient momentum to develop into a new 'standard' type," said Alphaliner.

The new compact 7,000-TEU class serves both on lower-capacity deepsea mainlines, and on high-capacity regional and feeder services.

"Essentially every trade route for which a panamax is 'workable' today could be serviced equally well - or even better - with a compact 7,000 TEU ship. That is provided the route can use the 40 per cent bump in nominal capacity." said Alphaliner.