Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company has reached a new milestone, pushing its total containership capacity past 7.2 million TEU and solidifying its position as the world’s largest carrier with a commanding 21.4% market share of the global fleet, according to Alphaliner.
The carrier now operates 980 vessels in active service, approaching the symbolic 1,000-ship mark. Of those, 727 ships representing 4.55 million TEU are owned, while 253 vessels totaling 2.65 million TEU are chartered, Alphaliner’s data shows. MSC also maintains an orderbook of 2.18 million TEU, giving it the fourth-highest orderbook-to-existing-fleet ratio among the top 10 carriers.
The achievement marks another chapter in MSC’s rapid ascent since overtaking A.P. Moller-Maersk in January 2022 to claim the top spot. At that time, data from Alphaliner showed MSC’s fleet could carry 4,284,728 twenty-foot equivalent units, edging out Maersk by just 1,888 TEU, with both carriers holding 17% market share.
MSC proceeded to widen the gap, becoming the first-ever carrier to hit 20% market share in 2024, having surpassed previous record set by Maersk in 2018 at 19.4% market share.
The leadership change ended decades of dominance by Maersk, which first entered containerized trade in 1975 and had long been an industry pioneer, often breaking records by building the largest ships. More recently, the Danish carrier has invested in vessels capable of sailing on carbon-neutral fuels as part of its decarbonization strategy.
Despite losing the capacity crown, Maersk still maintains an edge in vessel ownership. MSC operates with approximately 65% of its capacity from chartered ships, while Maersk’s chartered portion stands at 42%.
MSC has been led since 2020 by Soren Toft, who previously served as heir apparent at Maersk before his high-profile move to the Geneva-based company.
The container shipping industry has undergone dramatic changes since the pandemic, when demand for consumer goods strained vessel capacity and sent ocean freight rates soaring 81% in 2021, as measured by the Shanghai containerized freight index.
