The Ministry of Transport has released the "Analysis Report on Domestic Coastal Freight Ship Capacity for the First Half of 2026," detailing the latest developments in China's coastal shipping fleet. The report provides a comprehensive breakdown of capacity changes across dry bulk carriers, container ships, and liquid cargo vessels as of the end of June.

In the dry bulk carrier segment, the coastal fleet (vessels of 10,000 deadweight tons and above, excluding heavy-lift ships and multipurpose vessels) reached 2,390 ships with a combined capacity of 81.601 million deadweight tons (DWT) by June 30. This represents a modest increase of 3 ships and an additional 479,000 DWT compared to the end of 2025, marking a 0.6% rise in capacity. During the first half of the year, 53 newly built vessels adding 1.905 million DWT entered the market, while 50 ships totaling 1.416 million DWT were withdrawn as part of fleet optimization efforts.

For container ships, the coastal fleet (vessels with a capacity of over 700 TEU, excluding multipurpose ships) consisted of 475 vessels offering a total slot capacity of 1.08 million TEU as of June 30. This reflects an increase of 36 ships and 54,000 TEU compared to the end of 2025, representing a 5.3% growth in carrying capacity. The first half saw 44 new container ships with a combined capacity of 66,000 TEU enter service, while 8 ships (accounting for 10,000 TEU) were retired ahead of schedule.

The liquid cargo segment also saw notable activity. The coastal oil tanker fleet (including crude oil and refined product carriers, excluding oil-chemical dual-purpose vessels) comprised 1,028 ships with a total capacity of 11.604 million DWT by June 30, with 25 new tankers adding 429,000 DWT during the first six months. Meanwhile, the coastal chemical carrier fleet (including oil-chemical dual-purpose vessels) numbered 294 ships with a combined capacity of 1.682 million DWT, welcoming 11 new vessels that contributed 74,000 DWT. The liquefied gas carrier fleet totaled 89 ships with a capacity of 347,000 DWT, and during the same period, just one vessel with a capacity of 1,000 DWT was withdrawn from service ahead of schedule.