CHINA captured the bulk of newbuilding orders in 2025, riding a surge in containership demand that took off during the second quarter.

This year looks no different, as rivals in South Korea and Japan have not been able to keep up. Constrained by labour shortages, limited room to expand, and delivery slots already booked out for years, their ability to compete has been capped at exactly the wrong moment as demand for new ships remains elevated.

China, by contrast, has moved decisively.Tita (IMO: 7823542)  Agia Thekla (IMO: 9864992) COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited and China National Travel Service Group

Previously idled shipyard capacity has been reactivated, and existing facilities have scaled up production to meet demand not just for containerships, but also for a resurgent crude tanker market. The result is that China is set to maintain its dominance in global ship contracting throughout 2026.German Tanker Shipping GmbH & Company KG

According to data tracked by Lloyd’s List, of the 407 merchant vessels reported during the first quarter of 2026, some 71% were contracted from Chinese shipyards.

A resurgence in the ordering of suezmax and very large crude carriers from the end of 2025 has been especially beneficial to China. Londonderry

Global crude oil tanker contracting has accelerated sharply, with 95 such vessels ordered since the beginning of this year, underlining renewed confidence in the long-term outlook for oil transportation and the need for fleet renewal.

Significantly, some 74% of crude oil tankers ordered in 1Q26 were ordered in China.

The latest ordering spree comprises 39 suezmaxes and 56 VLCCs, with Greek shipowners emerging as the key force behind the wave of renewed newbuilding order activity.

By expanding its existing capacity, the previously mothballed STX Dalian shipyard, which now trades as Hengli Heavy Industries, has been able to secure a major share of VLCC orders. It picked up half of all VLCC newbuildings contracted in China during the first quarter.

Most significantly, Mediterranean Shipping Co contracted eight VLCCs at the yard, marking a watershed moment for the world’s largest container line as it moves into tanker ownership for the first time. They were contracted in partnership with South Korean shipowner Sinokor, in which MSC has plans to buy a half share.

In the containership sector, shipowners previously faithful to South Korean or Japanese yards have switched to Chinese ship construction. They include Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines, which placed its first orders in China in December last year.

The world’s 11th-largest boxship operator confirmed the order for six 6,000 teu vessels at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong, which was extended earlier in March to 10 ships.

They are the first vessels to be ordered in China directly by Wan Hai Lines, which, until recently, had only contracted ships in Japan, South Korea or from local state-owned yard CSBC.

Of the 120 containerships that were ordered during the first quarter of 2026, as many as 96 were contracted in China, with the remainder ordered in South Korea and India.

In the bulk carrier segment, China has also dominated ordering activity.

Of the 56 vessels contracted, Chinese yards picked up an astounding 80%, with Japan winning the rest of the orders.

In the gas carrier segment, China won 19 of the 31 liquefied natural gas carriers contracted during the first quarter with South Korean yards, which have limited slot availability until 2030, picking up the remaining 12 vessels.

Delivery slots for large merchant ships have now typically stretched out to 2029, echoing the extreme lead times seen during the last shipbuilding supercycle between 2007 and 2009. Its capacity is also not infinite.

The scale of China’s current dominance is striking. It controls roughly 70% of the global bulk carrier and tanker orderbooks, around 75% of containerships, and an extraordinary 90% of the orderbook for large vehicle carriers.

This supremacy is underpinned by a powerful industrial ecosystem with a vast and flexible shipyard capacity, deep integration with domestic steel production, and strong links to marine equipment manufacturing and ship finance.

The only meaningful constraints in the near-term appear external, with geopolitical pressure from the US and the European Union about unfair competition. But so far there has been no material impact.

Meanwhile, China’s competitors are adapting.

South Korea and Japan are increasingly looking overseas, partnering with shipyards in countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam to expand their effective capacity. These collaborations range from full vessel construction to block manufacturing, allowing them to expand their capacity despite domestic limitations.

India, too, is stepping back into the spotlight. A recent cooperation agreement between HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Cochin Shipyard signals growing international confidence in Indian capabilities.

Backed by government ambition and cost advantages, especially lower labour costs, India is aiming to break into the world’s top five shipbuilding nations within the next two decades.

There is, though, cautious optimism this time. India’s previous push faltered after the 2008 financial crisis, when shipowners walked away from orders. Today, however, crowded global orderbooks — particularly for containerships — may create a window of opportunity for Indian yards by offering early delivery slots.

Significantly, CMA CGM firmed up shipbuilding contracts in February for six gas-fuelled containerships at Cochin Shipyard, following a letter of intent signed in October 2025.

The order is a major win for India’s ambitions to become a significant shipbuilding nation.

For Cochin Shipyard, it is only its second order for containerships but easily its most high-profile.

Meanwhile, the immediate pressure to diversify away from China has eased. Proposed US trade measures targeting China-built ships have been delayed, removing a key incentive for shipowners to shift orders elsewhere. For now, economics still favour China.

But much of the global fleet built during the last shipbuilding supercycle will need replacing during the first half of the 2030s. That looming renewal cycle, combined with tightening emissions regulations and potentially clearer decarbonisation rules from the International Maritime Organization, points to a major wave of new orders later this decade.

For now, though, uncertainty is keeping many buyers on the sidelines.

Bulk carrier orders have dropped sharply, down nearly 70% year on year as relatively high newbuilding prices, regulatory ambiguity around future fuel choices, and ongoing geopolitical tensions have made some shipowners cautious on committal. 

Outside Asia, efforts to rebuild lost shipbuilding capability remain underway.

Renewed interest from the European Union is expected to more effectively support the shipbuilding industry than previously, though focus is anticipated to remain on more specialist, high-value ship types.      

Some European yards are benefitting from a revival in the cruiseship sector following the pandemic, with major builders now filling up delivery slots well into the 2030s with new ships for major global operators.

In the US, there is renewed political momentum to revive domestic merchant shipbuilding, in partnership with South Korea and Japan. But despite the rhetoric, no significant orders have been signed so far.   

Yet these initiatives still appear minor in comparison to China’s scale. China’s dominance looks unshakeable as its shipyards lead across nearly every vessel class, powered by unmatched industrial depth, a skilled workforce and a significant price advantage.