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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