Alphaliner says 25% of the global container fleet is operating on Far East-Europe trade route. File Image / Pixabay

The ongoing Iran war is reshaping global container shipping patterns, with carriers deploying a growing share of new vessel capacity on the Far East-Europe trade, according to sector specialist Alphaliner.

Capacity deployed on services serving the Middle East and Indian Subcontinent fell 7.6% year-on-year as vessels trapped in the Arab Gulf were excluded from active trade calculations, it said in an emailed report on Tuesday.

Alphaliner added these ships were instead included in its "repair/idle/others" category, contributing to a 56% increase in that segment.

Meanwhile, the global container fleet expanded by 5.7% year-on-year to 33.9 million TEU between May 2025 and May 2026.

Of the 1.84 million TEU of capacity added to the global container fleet through new container ship deliveries during the period, 667,400 TEU was deployed on the Far East-Europe trade, accounting for 36% of the additional capacity.

Alphaliner said capacity on the Far East-Europe route increased 8.5% year-on-year as carriers continued to operate services around the Cape of Good Hope instead of using the Red Sea.

The trade now accounts for 25% of the global container fleet, up from 20.8% three years ago.

Africa-related services recorded the strongest growth, with capacity rising 25.3% year-on-year.

The Asia-West Africa route alone received an additional 347,500 TEU, helping drive the increase.

Latin America also remained a key growth market, with capacity rising 7.8% after an additional 349,300 TEU was deployed on services linked to the region.

By contrast, capacity on the Europe-North America trade fell 1.8%, while capacity on the Asia-North America route was broadly unchanged over the past year.