Why Are Old Container Ships Still Sailing?

Nearly 17% of fleet capacity is over 20 years old. Almost none of it is being scrapped.

The containership fleet is ageing fast.

Around 2,000 ships, totalling almost 6m TEU, are now at least 20 years old.

Many expected that to trigger a wave of scrapping.

It did not.

Only five small containerships, with a combined capacity of about 5,000 TEU, were commercially recycled in H1/2026.

Why are owners still keeping ships that many thought would already be gone?

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Age is not the deciding factor

Less than 1% of global containership capacity is currently idle.