Containership demolition activities could hit an all-time low.
By mid-2025, a total capacity of less than 4,000 TEUs has been scrapped worldwide. If the trend continues for the second half of the year, 2025 could close with the lowest number of TEUs ever scrapped in the past two decades.
During the first half of the year, seven boxships, with an average capacity of around 500 TEUs each, were sent to shipyards for scrapping.
Although 2022 still holds the record for the lowest number of ships scrapped (only five), the total number of TEU taken off the market that year was about three times higher than in 2025 so far.
Ships scrapped in 2025 tend to be around 28 years old, which is higher than the 26-year-old average of the last two decades
Translation by Giles Foster
