ContainerSignal Daily: MSC adds 20 megamaxes as capacity stacks up

MSC has added another 20 ships of 24,000 TEU at Hengli Heavy Industry, according to Linerlytica, a block of 480,000 TEU that takes its programme of vessels above 20,000 TEU at that yard to 62 ships. The order lands with the global containership orderbook at 16.2 million TEU, or 46.5% of the existing fleet, the highest ratio since 2009. The same week produced a reminder of what the current fleet is doing: the Panama Canal closed its financial year with record revenue and more transits, Antwerp-Bruges reported its strongest container quarter since late 2020, and Manila’s congestion deepened.

Today’s Signals

Fleet & Capacity

MSC returns to Hengli for 20 more megamaxes. Linerlytica reported the order of 20 additional 24,000 TEU vessels at the Dalian-based yard, equal to 480,000 TEU of future capacity, Splash 24/7 reported. No contract value, delivery dates or propulsion specifications were disclosed. The Journal of Commerce put the same order at 20 ships of 24,000 TEU and said it had pushed the global newbuilding backlog to the equivalent of 46.5% of the existing fleet, the highest since 2009, citing Linerlytica. MSC’s history at Hengli now runs from ten 21,000 TEU and ten 24,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel ships, through six 22,000 TEU vessels ordered last year, to this batch. At the end of September, Alphaliner data cited by Splash put MSC’s operated fleet at about 7.4 million TEU, or 21.5% of global liner capacity, with another 2.94 million TEU on order. The 24,000 TEU class sits at the practical ceiling of what ports, channels and cranes can handle, which is the constraint set out in how container ships are sized.

The orderbook passes its 2008 peak in tonnage terms. BIMCO put the global orderbook at 203.2 million compensated gross tonnes at the start of September, up 13% year on year and just below May’s all-time high of 210.4 million cgt, Splash 24/7 reported. China took 74% of new tonnage contracted over the preceding 12 months and holds 64% of the orderbook, against 19% for South Korea and 6% for Japan. Containerships account for 30% of tonnage on order and 68% of the past year’s growth in that orderbook. Chinese yards are scheduled to deliver a record 44 million cgt in 2028, nearly twice the 22.7 million cgt delivered in 2025, a pace BIMCO chief shipping analyst Niels Rasmussen warned risks leaving yards underused when contracting slows.

Ports

Panama closes fiscal 2026 with record revenue. The Panama Canal Authority reported 13,951 transits in the year to 30 September, up 4.1% from 13,404 in fiscal 2025, and tonnage of 521 million PC/UMS tons, up 6.5% from 489.2 million, in its results release. Neopanamax locks carried 52.2% of total tonnage, with tonnage through those locks up 8.2% year on year. Revenue reached 6.6 billion balboas, up 16.6%, on unaudited figures; the balboa is pegged one for one to the US dollar. The authority attributed growth to energy shipping segments and strong containership performance, and said the waterway continued to adapt to El Niño conditions. The Neopanamax share matters for container lines because it measures how much of the canal’s traffic is now carried by the larger ships that set slot economics on the Asia to US East Coast route.

Antwerp-Bruges posts its best container quarter since late 2020. Container throughput rose 1.2% in TEU over the first nine months of 2026, with the third quarter the strongest container quarter since late 2020, the port reported, according to Port Strategy. Total goods throughput fell 0.8% to 200.9 million tonnes. Empty container volumes rose 11.7% in TEU while full container volumes fell 1.3%, a pattern the port linked to repositioning empties towards Asia. Container exports to the Persian Gulf fell 70%, while exports to other parts of the Middle East nearly quintupled, a shift consistent with the Gulf disruption covered in recent briefings.

Manila congestion may take months to clear. Bureau of Customs deputy commissioner Agaton Uvero said Luzon’s ports are receiving more containers than they ship out, with Manila International Container Port handling 1.36 million TEU of imports against about 1 million TEU of exports, or 74%, between 1 January and 18 October, PortCalls reported. The Port of Manila recorded 531,831 TEU of imports and 674,054 TEU of exports, and Batangas 125,123 and 132,789 respectively. Across the three ports, imports of 2.02 million TEU against 1.81 million TEU of exports left roughly 208,000 more TEU arriving than leaving, and import dwell time averages eight days against an ideal of five to six. A joint administrative order on congestion, logistics costs and empty container returns has been signed by the Department of Finance, with other agencies given until this week to comment and signature possible next week, Finance undersecretary Rolando Ligon Jr said, PortCalls reported. Dwell beyond free time is where demurrage and detention charges begin to accrue.

IFM agrees to buy control of Associated British Ports. IFM Investors will acquire the 33.9% and 30% holdings of CPP Investments and OMERS in Britain’s largest port operator, a transaction valuing ABP at more than £10 billion according to Financial Times estimates, The Loadstar reported and Splash 24/7 reported. ABP operates 21 ports including Southampton, Immingham and the Humber complex, handling about a quarter of UK seaborne trade. Completion depends on regulatory approval and UK national security filings.

Regulation & Policy

US sanctions reach the service layer of Iran’s shipping network. The Treasury designated Panama and Greece-based law firm Karnakis and Karnakis, five associated individuals, Dubai-based Whales Shipping Line and Singapore-based Amigoz, along with nine vessels, gCaptain reported. Seven Panama-flagged cargo ships operated by Roxette Maritime were named: ANEMOS, GLORIS, PRIDE, DESTINY, FLAMINGO 1, HARMONY and PRINCE, alongside two UAE-flagged support vessels, WHALES DIAMOND and WHALES PEARL. Treasury said the law firm built shell companies used to conceal vessel ownership, and FinCEN said it was working with Greek authorities on a bank investigation. The action targets corporate agents, managers and bunker suppliers rather than only the ships, which widens the counterparty checks that forwarders and NVOCCs need on Gulf and intra-Asia bookings.

Iran claims seven vessels were struck in the Gulf. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said seven vessels were attacked or hit mines across the Persian Gulf in 24 hours, including four in ship-to-ship oil transfers, Splash 24/7 reported. No vessel names, flag details, casualty figures or independently verifiable evidence were supplied, and the US military has previously disputed Tehran’s accounts of mines, attributing attacks to missiles and drones. UK Maritime Trade Operations reported an unidentified tanker hit by a projectile 11 nautical miles west of Bukha, Oman, with the fire extinguished and all crew safe. The International Maritime Organization’s tally records 119 confirmed maritime security incidents across the Middle East since hostilities began, with 24 seafarer fatalities.

What It Means

For shippers, the MSC order is a 2028 story, not a 2027 one. The tonnage contracted this week will not compete for cargo until late in the decade, so the supply that matters for next year’s contracts is the fleet already afloat and how much of it returns to Suez. Those two forces point in opposite directions: record ordering on one side, and on the other a routing normalisation that shortens round voyages and releases effective capacity. A procurement plan that assumes 2026 scarcity persists into 2027 is exposed to the second force, while one that assumes a permanent rate collapse ignores how slowly new ships arrive.

For carriers, the combination is uncomfortable. Ordering at a post-2009 high while the Red Sea reopens means capacity growth arrives from both the shipyard and the routing decision at once. Blank sailings are the usual short term lever, as our explainer on what a blank sailing does sets out, but they manage deployed slots rather than the structural surplus that an orderbook at 46.5% of the fleet implies. MSC’s scale gives it the most room to absorb that, and the least need to defend share through price.

For ports, the week’s numbers describe an uneven network. Panama is carrying more tonnage per transit as Neopanamax ships take a larger share, Antwerp-Bruges is moving empties rather than full boxes, and Manila is paying for an import and export imbalance that leaves roughly 208,000 TEU of extra containers in the country. Empty evacuation, not quay capacity, is the binding constraint in each case.

For compliance teams, the sanctions package is the practical item. Designations that reach law firms, corporate agents and bunker suppliers mean the paperwork behind a charter, not just the ship, is now a screening question.

Sources

• Journal of Commerce: MSC orders 20 24,000-TEU vessels from shipyard partner Hengli Heavy
• Splash 24/7: MSC tipped for another 20 megamaxes in China
• Splash 24/7: Global shipbuilding boom moves into overdrive
• Panama Canal Authority: Panama Canal Reports Growth in Transits and Tonnage in Fiscal Year 2026
• Port Strategy: Port of Antwerp-Bruges bounces back
• PortCalls Asia: Manila port congestion may take months to clear: BOC
• PortCalls Asia: Joint administrative order on port congestion may be signed by next week
• The Loadstar: Australia’s IFM snaps up 68% stake in ABP
• Splash 24/7: Australian fund takes control of UK ports giant in £10bn deal
• gCaptain: U.S. Sanctions Law Firm, Shipping Agents and Nine Vessels in Iran Shadow Fleet Crackdown
• Splash 24/7: Iran claims seven vessels hit in new wave of Hormuz attacks