Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has reached a new milestone by surpassing 7.2 million TEUs of total capacity in its fleet of container ships, allowing it to maintain its position as the largest shipping operator in the world with a 21.4% share of the global market, according to data published by Alphaliner.
The Geneva-based shipping company currently operates 980 vessels in active service, a figure that places it at the threshold of the symbolic barrier of 1,000 ships. Of that total, 727 vessels with a combined capacity of 4.55 million TEUs are owned by it, while another 253 ships totaling 2.65 million TEUs operate under charter agreements, according to Alphaliner's figures. Additionally, MSC has a backlog of orders of 2.18 million TEUs, granting it the fourth-highest ratio between order book and existing fleet among the ten leading operators in the sector.
This record represents a new chapter in MSC's upward trajectory since it overtook A.P. Moller-Maersk in January 2022 to reach the top of the global ranking. At that time, Alphaliner data showed that MSC's fleet could transport 4,284,728 twenty-foot equivalent units, surpassing Maersk by just 1,888 TEUs, with both shipping companies sharing a market share of 17%.
Since then, MSC has progressively widened the gap with its immediate competitor, aiming to become in 2024 the first shipping company in history to reach 20% market share, surpassing the previous record set by Maersk in 2018 at 19.4%.
