Seaspan currently manages 79 containerships totalling 484,000 TEU and its orderbook of 30 ships for 361,000 TEU that makes it the largest among NOOs, and is expected to grow to more than 100 ships totalling 800,000 TEU by 2016, said Alphaliner.
"For the first time ever since the 1970s, a non-German owner leads the NOO league. Seaspan's relatively young fleet, with an average age of seven years and an average size of 6,000 should keep Seaspan at the top spot for the next few years," said Alphaliner.
Although German Non-Operating Owners still account for 51 per cent of the charter market fleet capacity, their influence is waning, said the report."Their ownership share has dropped from 61 per cent in 2008 and the German owners' share of ships on order for the charter market stands at only eight per cent," said the Alphaliner newsletter.
Fourteen of the top-30 NOOs are non-German and market share of these companies will increase further as they account for 87 per cent of the top-30 NOO's total orderbook. Furthermore, the German owners' share is expected to fall as a result of the disposal of older ships.