BIMCO: 53% of Container Ships on Order Can Use Alternative Fuels

(Safety4Sea) In this week’s “Shipping Number of the Week” from BIMCO, Chief Shipping Analyst, Niels Rasmussen, looks at the number of container ships on order which will be able to use alternative fuels directly upon delivery. -- According to Niels Rasmussen, as of end August 2025, 534 container ships are on order which will be able to use alternative fuels upon delivery. These represent 53% of ships on order and 77% of the TEU. In addition to these alternatively-fuelled ships, the order book also includes 321 ships that will use heavy fuel and another 155 ships that will be delivered ready for a future conversion to alternative fuels.

Alternative fuels have proven particularly popular for the largest ships while orders for smaller alternatively-fuelled ships lag behind. For ships with 8,000 TEU capacity or more, 81% of the ships and 85% of the TEU capacity on order are for alternatively-fuelled ships.

"Despite an increase in orders for alternatively-fuelled ships in recent years, the other three main shipping sectors still lag behind the container sector in this respect. In the bulker, crude tanker and product tanker sectors, alternatively-fuelled ships only make up only respectively 8%, 17% and 9% of the ships on order …" Rasmussen commented.

There can be several reasons why the bulker and tanker sectors still order comparatively fewer alternatively-fuelled ships. However, it seems likely that the prevalence of smaller operators in those sectors may negatively impact orders, whereas the container sector is controlled by a few large companies.

LNG remains the most popular alternative fuel, with LNG-fuelled ships now accounting for two-thirds of all alternatively-fuelled ships on order. In comparison, methanol-fuelled ships represent 31% of the total. While methanol led alternative fuel orders in 2023, it has since been overtaken by LNG.

The shift back towards LNG highlights a key concern when contracting alternatively-fuelled ships: availability of fuel. While the technology to build ships capable of low carbon operation is available, the availability of the fuel needed appears to be lagging behind. LNG is currently available mainly as a carbon fuel but could in future increasingly become available as a low carbon biofuel or e-fuel.

" Assuming that none of the alternatively-fuelled ships in operation are recycled, the container fleet in 2030 will include 837 alternatively-fuelled ships with 10.9 million TEU capacity once all the ships in the order book have been delivered. That could equal more than 25% of all the container capacity in operation by then …" said Rasmussen.

Excerpt from Port News: The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) is the world’s largest international shipping association. It is a non-governmental organization with around 2,100 members across roughly 120 countries, representing between 60% and 64% of global merchant shipping tonnage. BIMCO is headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark, and engages in industry regulation, standard contracts, and market analysis. READ MORE

The Gas sectors have the highest percentage of the fleet both live and on order with LNG vessels leading the way at c.76%. Modern and newly built LNG vessels will inherently be dual fuel, but older vessels typically were not built with such a design. However, some vessels may have been built as dual-fuel ready, providing shipowners with the option to retrofit full dual-fuel systems when market conditions or regulations make the investment attractive.

Multigas rank second with c.71% followed by Vehicle Carriers with a share of 23%. Within the global orderbook, the majority of Vehicle Carriers are dual-fuel specific. This trend is driven by the primary cargo transported aboard these vessels: factory new OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) light vehicles, including EVs (Electric Vehicles).

OEMs prioritize transporting their new light and heavy vehicles on clean vessels that provide lower emission ratings. This preference has led to increased demand for environmentally superior shipping solutions. As a result, shipowners operating in the Vehicle Carrier sector are ordering dual-fuel ships at significantly higher rates than those in other maritime sectors.

Decarbonisation is of increasingly high importance to the global fleet and a growing percentage of the overall fleet ranks highly in the mandatory energy efficiency ratings from the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The Multigas sector is the fleet with the largest percentage of vessels in band A at c.21% and the Container sector has the most vessels within bands A-C with c.67% of the fleet achieving a rating within this range.

The data reveals a sector in transition. While market concentration remains high among a few dominant players, the rapid adoption of dual-fuel technology and improving energy efficiency ratings demonstrate the industry’s commitment to meeting global decarbonisation goals. The challenge ahead lies in balancing operational efficiency with environmental responsibility as regulatory frameworks continue to evolve and stakeholder expectations intensify. READ MORE