The crisis weighs heavily on the global container freight market, which continues to be dominated by massive overcapacity, low demand and historically low freight rates.

And this fact was reflected in the number of idled vessels, which increased big-time in November, reports Bloomberg News citing a new analysis by analyst agency Drewry.

The number of idled vessels increased by as much as 52 percent in November compared to October, so that the total idled capacity in November came to 900,000 teu.

This corresponds to nearly 5 percent of the global fleet, and represents the highest level of inactive ships since the beginning of 2010.

31 vessels with a capacity of 8,000 teu or more count among the ships taken out of service in November, reports Drewry.

Idled ships are defined by Drewry as those which have been inactive for at least 14 days.

Alphaliner recently announced that the number of unemployed container vessels has already exceeded the magic threshold of one million teu, the highest level in five years.

Although the number of weekly sailings in the fourth quarter between Asia and North Europe has been cut by 3.8 so-called strings, the actual reduction in capacity is just one percent higher than it was in the same period last year. According to the analyst firm, the explanation lies with the increasing size of the ships on these routes. Ships today have an average size of 14,000 teu against 12,000 teu one year ago on the same route between Asia and North Europe.

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Alphaliner: Idle container fleet hits one million teu