The  container charter market  in  2025  is on track to become the best year since the  COVID-19 pandemic, as rates remain at “very healthy” levels for all classes of vessels, according to  Alphaliner .

“ The container charter market is ending 2025 on a sustained upward note , with high demand showing no signs of slowing, while charter rates remain at very healthy levels for all classes of vessels,” the consultancy said.

“Given that this trend is not expected to change in the coming weeks, it is safe to say that 2025 will be the strongest year the market has enjoyed outside of the post-COVID-19 freight boom years ,” he added.

Despite an unprecedented level of disruption and uncertainty at the political, geopolitical and macroeconomic levels around the world, the market has shown “remarkable resilience during the year, overcoming most of the challenges it had to face,” the entity emphasized.

“US tariffs, port fees, instability in the Middle East, the situation in Ukraine, as well as falling freight rates and the uninterrupted flow of new ship deliveries, have been obstacles that the market has successfully overcome,” he remarked.

Despite the above, there were also tailwinds, as “the detours around the Cape of Good Hope continued to be a blessing in disguise, since the much greater sailing distances on a typical voyage from Asia to the Atlantic basin helped to absorb a large number of vessels that would otherwise have been unwanted,” Alphaliner pointed out.

“Stronger-than-expected cargo volumes, particularly on North-South and regional trade routes, also helped to mitigate any risk of overcapacity. As a result of this high demand, tonnage supply was adjusted throughout 2025, despite a steady influx of new vessel deliveries and negligible scrapping volumes,” he added.

In its latest count of vessels in the spot charter market, Alphaliner sees only two ships currently idle worldwide, an all-time low . Similarly, figures for commercially idle tonnage continue to evolve at record lows, with the container ship fleet considered “fully employed.”

“The year 2026 should see a large-scale return of container shipping traffic through the Suez Canal. While the disruptions such a move will cause in the short term have the potential to boost tonnage demand, the long term looks bleak, with shorter sailing distances expected to make a substantial number of vessels redundant,” Alphaliner stated.

“In addition, 1.4 million TEUs of new shipbuilding capacity will enter service. Some might argue that this isn’t much considering the 3 and 4 million TEUs of new builds expected in 2027 and 2028. However, this will contribute to swelling a fleet that is likely already in oversupply mode due to the reopening of the Suez Canal. This combination could be toxic and put both freight and charter rates under significant pressure, unless cargo volumes continue to surprise, as they did in 2025,” he concluded.

With information from  Portal Portuario , a media outlet specializing in ports and maritime transport in Chile.

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Due to expectations of lower demand, especially for container and dry bulk transport due to the impact of U.S. tariff policy, Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook for the global shipping sector for 2025 from “neutral” to “deteriorated.”

The rating agency estimated that container volume this year could remain stable or decline slightly compared to 2024 due to the impact of tariffs. The international organization had forecast growth of around 3% in early 2025.

According to his analysis, he noted that global fleet capacity is likely to increase by around 6% , “meaning that even if trade tensions ease and demand subsequently increases, supply will still outstrip demand.”

Fitch Ratings also estimated that container shipping earnings could decline significantly this year compared to 2024, “which previously benefited from Red Sea disruptions that drove up freight rates.”

Given the disruptive scenario facing supply chains due to U.S. protectionist measures, the agency predicted that container freight rates will continue to decline from the peaks reached in mid-2024.

“However, short-term changes in demand, such as the earlier demand due to pending tariff increases and resulting supply chain bottlenecks such as port congestion, could temporarily boost rates,” he noted.

Other risks to container freight rates include the return to normal traffic through the Suez Canal, which could increase effective capacity by more than 10%, the rating agency said, adding that port fees proposed by U.S. trade authorities add further complexity.

“The impact of the proposed plan on shipping lines will vary depending on whether they are Chinese-owned, the proportion of their revenue generated on routes to and from the United States, and the proportion of Chinese-built vessels in their fleet,” he stressed.

He considered that if this plan is implemented, $120 in container fees could be added for non-Chinese operators using Chinese-built vessels starting October 14, 2025.

“We expect global dry bulk volumes to remain broadly unchanged in 2025, while global ocean freight capacity will increase by low to mid-single digits, resulting in weak rates,” he said.

Fitch Ratings estimates that tanker shipping is likely to remain more stable, driven by strong ton-mile demand and the potential for oil inventory replenishment due to lower oil prices.

It’s worth noting that Drewry ‘s Container Forecaster expects the supply-demand balance to weaken again in the second half of the year, which could lead to a further decline in spot rates in the second half of this year.

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