New containership orders totalled 1.43m teu for 177 ships in the first half of the year worldwide, double the amount of boxship orders in the entire of 2010.
The newbuilding order values came in at around $15.7bn in total, according to AXS-Alphaliner.
8,000-13,000 teu ship orders occupied 595,000 teu for 60 ships, taking 41.5% of the total order volume.
Orders for ultra-large boxships over 14,000 teu took 34.8% with 500,000 teu for 30 ships.
Against the backdrop of low newbuilding prices, shipowners were quick to order the large boxships eyeing economy of scale and increased market share.