New ships: 24,000 TEU container ships, and geared vs gearless heavy-lift vessels

Lashed & Secured editorial team · October 2026 · 6 min read

Two very different kinds of ship are being built right now. At one end are the 24,000 TEU ultra-large container ships that carry most of the world's boxes between Asia and Europe. At the other are the heavy-lift and multipurpose ships, with their own cranes, that move the transformers, modules and turbine parts that don't fit in a box. Both affect anyone moving project cargo.

Part 1: The 24,000 TEU class

How big is big?

The largest container ships are about 400 metres long and 61 metres wide, carrying around 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The record is still held by MSC Irina, at 24,346 TEU, delivered in March 2023. Nothing delivered since has beaten her.

New ones keep arriving, though, and they're getting cleaner rather than bigger:

• CMA CGM Notre Dame, 24,212 TEU according to CMA CGM, delivered in May 2026. She runs on LNG as well as conventional fuel.
• OOCL Wisdom, a 24,168 TEU methanol dual-fuel ship for the COSCO/OOCL group, delivered by Nantong COSCO KHI on 25 June 2026, and reported to be the first of this size able to run on methanol.

There's talk of going bigger again. Analysts at Alphaliner have revived the idea of a 27,500 TEU "Gigamax", but no carrier or yard has confirmed an order. Maersk, the one big carrier that never ordered a 24,000 TEU ship, ordered 18,600 TEU ships in 2026 instead, at 366 metres by 58.6 metres.

The orderbook

The order books are full. Alphaliner put the global containership orderbook at a record 14.7 million TEU across 1,795 ships on 9 September 2026, with ships over 10,000 TEU making up 68% of it. Linerlytica's later count, after Maersk's large order and a reported order for twelve 24,000 TEU ships by CMA CGM, was about 15.6 million TEU. That's around 45% of the ships already sailing. BIMCO expects fleet capacity to grow by about 9% in 2027.

Where can they go?

Not many places. A 24,000 TEU ship needs:

• deep water, typically 16 metres or more alongside and in the approach channel
• ship-to-shore cranes with enough outreach for 24 or 25 rows of containers across the deck
• a long enough berth, and enough yard and landside capacity for thousands of moves in one call

Suez Canal: yes. Ships of this size used Suez routinely before the Red Sea attacks. In September 2026 the 24,188 TEU OOCL Portugal made COSCO's first southbound transit since the crisis began, and Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and CMA CGM have moved some services back. It's service by service and could be reversed, so check the routing of each booking.

Panama Canal: no. The Neopanamax locks take ships up to about 370 metres long and 51 metres wide, so the 400-metre class can't fit.

In practice they work the Asia–North Europe and Asia–Mediterranean trades, calling at the big hubs. In the UK, Felixstowe, London Gateway and Southampton are the ports that handle this class.

What it means for rates and congestion

• Pressure on rates. More ships chasing the same cargo usually pushes freight rates down. The longer Cape of Good Hope voyages have soaked up a lot of spare capacity since late 2023. As services return to Suez, that capacity is released.
• Peaky ports. One giant ship can mean 10,000 or more container moves in a single call. If it arrives late, the terminal, yard, trucks and rail all feel it at once, and a single delay can ripple through a network.
• Cascading. As the giants take over the main lanes, the 8,000–15,000 TEU ships they replace move to other trades such as Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. That can mean bigger ships calling at ports that weren't built for them.
• For project cargo. Flat racks and open tops still travel on these ships, but out-of-gauge slots are limited and carriers price them accordingly. Book special equipment early, especially around peak season.

Part 2: Heavy-lift ships, geared vs gearless

Geared ships

A geared ship carries its own cranes. On heavy-lift and multipurpose (MPP) ships these are serious machines, usually mounted on one side so two can work together in tandem. Here are some recent examples:

• SAL Heavy Lift, MV Patricia, third ship of the Orca class, christened in Rostock in September 2026. She has two all-electric Liebherr cranes of 800 tonnes each, giving a 1,600 tonne tandem lift.
• SAL, MV Mila, first of the 14K 700 Type series. She has two 350 tonne cranes, giving 700 tonnes in tandem, with three sister ships to follow.
• Chipolbrok, MV Wyspiański, launched in May 2026. She's 37,450 dwt with three 350 tonne cranes (700 tonnes in tandem) and a forward superstructure to free up deck space for blades and long pieces.
• BigLift, Happy Star. She has two 1,100 tonne Huisman cranes, giving a 2,200 tonne tandem lift, and BigLift has ordered a sister.
• Jumbo. Its J-class ships have two 900 tonne cranes (1,800 tonnes in tandem), and its K3000 class can lift 3,000 tonnes in tandem.

Gearless ships

A gearless ship has no cranes, or none heavy enough, and relies on what the port has. Container ships are gearless. So are semi-submersibles, which ballast down and float the cargo on or off, and ro-ro ships, which take cargo rolled on by SPMTs or trailers.

When do you need the ship's gear?

You need the ship's gear when:

• the port has no crane heavy enough. That's common at river ports, smaller ports and project sites near the coast.
• the piece is heavier than the shore cranes can manage at the radius needed
• you're loading or discharging at a beach, jetty or anchorage
• you want one party in charge of the whole lift, with the ship's crew and the cargo on the same plan

Shore cranes or floating cranes can be the better choice when:

• the port has a strong mobile harbour crane or heavy-lift quay crane available on your dates
• the piece fits a gearless ship that's cheaper or sails sooner
• the weight is beyond any ship's gear, so it's a job for a floating sheerleg or float-on/float-off

For scale, a Liebherr LHM 800 mobile harbour crane is rated at 308 tonnes on its own and 616 tonnes when two work in tandem. That's big, but well short of a modern heavy-lift ship's cranes.

How to check a port's crane capacity

The number on the brochure is the crane's maximum, usually at its shortest radius. What matters is what it can lift at the radius you actually need.

1. Get the load chart. Ask the port, terminal or agent for the crane's load chart, which shows the safe working load (SWL) at each radius. Work out the radius from the crane's position to the centre of gravity of the piece, both on the quay and on the ship or barge.
2. Add everything that hangs off the hook. The lift weight is the cargo plus slings, shackles, spreader or lifting beam, and the hook block if the chart doesn't include it.
3. Check tandem rules. Two cranes in tandem don't simply add up. A tandem lift needs a plan that shares the load between them, and usually a derating margin.
4. Check the quay. Ask for the quay's load bearing capacity (tonnes per square metre), as well as the crane's outrigger loads and the route for SPMTs or trailers.
5. Check depth and berth. Ask for the draught at the berth at the state of tide you'll be working, and the berth length.
6. Check availability and paperwork. Check the crane is free on your dates, is in date for its thorough examination, and comes with an operator. In the UK, lifts come under LOLER and BS 7121, so you'll need a lift plan from an appointed person.

Get those six answers in writing before you commit to a ship. They're what usually decides between a geared ship, a gearless ship plus a shore or floating crane, or a different port.

Sources

← All guides