The bigger, the more economical – the conventional logic may not always apply to container ships in Asia-to-Europe traffic.
Where seaports have invested in infrastructure and logistics systems, hinterland connections are beginning to reach their capacity limits. There are two possible solutions.
In recent years the volume of goods transported by the global container fleet has nearly doubled, reaching more than 200 million TEU per year.
The Far East/Europe and East/West trade, while accounting for just 25% of the global trade volume, cover the longest distances and have had an impact on container ship sizes: Today’s biggest vessels can carry in excess of 21,000 TEU, and 23,000 TEU vessels are on order.
