Container fleet increases 10 per cent

Alphaliner has reported a 10 per cent increase in the size of the world's containership fleet to 14.95m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

But the Paris-based analyst warned in its weekly market survey: "Utilisation levels still remain weak, as demand growth since Dec 2010 was lacklustre."

The main trading routes’ unassuming Q2 utilisation levels of less than 90 per cent are expected to rise only slightly this month.

The largest capacity increases were on African routes (more than 20 per cent) followed by transatlantic (14 per cent) and Latin American (13 per cent) routes.