The container fleet keeps getting bigger.
Normally, more ships should mean more space.
But in H1 2026, carriers removed ~12% of scheduled capacity across four major east-west trades.
In the same period of 2019, the range was only 6–8%.
And on one major trade, scheduled capacity grew 45% while withdrawn capacity more than tripled.
The ships exist.
But not all of their capacity reaches the market.
So how much of the coming fleet growth will actually become available space?
Here are 5️⃣ signals behind the shift:
1️⃣ The baseline has moved higher
In H1 2026: