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Trade surge since January drives carriers to launch extra services.Active container ship capacity increased by 15.3 percent from the beginning of the year as ocean carriers are launching extra services in response to a larger-than-expected surge in global box traffic.The active fleet stands at 13.32 million 20-foot equivalent units compared with 11.55 million TEUs on Jan. 1, according to researches.The total cellular container ship fleet, both active and idle, has grown to 13.67 million TEUs from 13.06 million TEUs at the beginning of 2010.Despite the arrival of new vessels, the idled fleet has shrunk from 1.51 million TEUs at the beginning of the year to 350,000 TEUs at the end of June. Scrapping of older vessels has slowed significantly.All of the top 20 ocean carriers increased capacity over the past six months except Japan's NYK which has slimmed down as it pursues a strategy of lessening its exposure to liner shipping.
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