The 2,516 ships delivered, and 1,384 ships recycled since then, have not been sufficient to keep the average age down.Ĭurrently, 21% of ships in the container fleet are older than 20 years and thereby prime candidates for recycling in the coming years. The average age of the container fleet has increased 4.3 years during the past 13 years with the average age hitting a recent low of 9.9 years in August 2010. The dry bulk fleet has an average age of 11.9 years whereas tankers on average are 12.8 years old,' stated Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO. 'Container ships have reached their highest average age yet at 14.2 years, the highest average age of the three main shipping sectors.
