More than 900 vessels are slated for the container shipping market between 2023 and 2027, according to Alphaliner figures. Based on the latest numbers from Statista, this corresponds to over 16% of the existing fleet. During the pandemic, container carriers ordered a large number of newbuilds to take advantage of the surge in demand. The deliveries scheduled for 2023 are expected to add about 1.4 million TEU, expanding the global capacity by nearly 2 million TEU next year. Shipyards in South Korea and China received the most orders, with China having a slight advantage primarily because South Korean yards have their orderbooks fully booked into 2026. Shipping companies looking for quicker deliveries turned, therefore, to China, say analysts. According to research firm Clarksons Research, Chinese shipbuilders received 49% of the orders placed in 2022. Though shipyards in the country were affected by the COVID-19 measures, they redoubled their efforts after lockdowns. The world, however, is not seeing a growth in demand the same way it did in 2021 and 2022. Bloomberg reported the World Trade Organization expects trade volumes to grow by just 1% this year. “In the worst case scenario the market could be left with upwards of 1m TEU of vessel overcapacity — and, where there is spare capacity, there is pressure on rates,” according to Lloyd’s List analysts. Scrapping old vessels, together with the new decarbonisation rules, could reduce some of the capacity in the market. However, experts believe oversupply could remain an issue. Most of the ships sent to retirement end up on beaches in Southeast Asia, reveals a recent report. In 2022, 443 commercial ships were sold to demolition, says NGO Shipbreaking Platform, of which 292 vessels “ended up for dirty and dangerous breaking on tidal beaches in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.” The NGO’s year-end scrapping report of 2022 warned, “shipbreaking on the beaches of South Asia continues to cause serious harm to workers and the environment despite plunge in number of ships scrapped.” At least ten workers lost their lives in 2022, and over 30 injuries were reported among workers tasked with breaking apart vessels on the beach of Chattogram, Bangladesh. "Companies have a duty to eliminate the negative impacts that their commercial decisions have on the environment and people. End-of-life vessels are hazardous waste, and taking them apart on tidal beaches is by far the worst industrial practice,” says Ingvild Jenssen, executive director and founder of Shipbreaking Platform. The latest figures show that MSC has the largest order book so far, with 133 ships, followed by CMA CGM with 89 ships.