THE global fleet of idle box ships has grown substantially in recent weeks, according to Paris-based Alphaliner.
The survey reveals that the capacity marked as inactive reached 315 ships, totaling 1.18 million TEU the first time the idle fleet has surpassed the million TEU mark since late May.
Most in the inactive fleet, 186 units or 60 per cent, are marked as being in repair yards, whereas 129 units are considered idled.
Compared to the previous survey conducted on September 25, there has been a net addition of 44 ships representing 233,504 TEU, boosted by the idling of several large vessels.
As a result, the proportion of inactive capacity rose to 4.3 per cent of the total containership fleet as of October 9, up from 3.4 per cent from two weeks earlier.
The rise in the inactive container fleet has coincided with a period of very low cargo demand. The inactive fleet reached its peak in February at 1.68 million TEU, representing 6.4 per cent of the entire cellular container fleet.
Source: shippingazette