A total of 201 vessels with a combined capacity of nearly 700,000 TEUs were demolished in 2016, a new record for the ocean shipping industry.
This is an increase of 187,500 TEUs from the 2015 capacity scrapped. 15% of the total number of containerships, accounting for 102,000 TEUs of capacity sold for scrap, were sold in the period between 11/20/16 and 12/20/16.
Scrapping of capacity, together with consolidation efforts are a way for ocean carriers to try to restore the balance between supply and demand in an effort to increase freight rates to a profitable level.