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MSC closes in on 20% share of container ship market

The world’s largest container line MSC continues to get bigger and now holds the most dominant position any company has ever held in the market.

Marcus Hand, Editor

August 7, 2024

2 Min Read
MSC Isabella
Photo: MSC

According to analyst Alphaliner MSC has added 400,000 teu in capacity to its fleet alone this year. The company’s operated fleet now stands up at 19.8% of global container ship capacity, the highest ever held by a single line. It’s share of the global fleet was up one percentage point on 18.8% from end July 2023.

“Only Maersk has come close to dominating the market in the same way. The latter reached a peak market share of 19.4% in 2018 but has seen its market participation decline in each of the five consecutive years since then,” Alphaliner commented in its weekly report.

Maersk, while retaining its rank as the world’s second largest container line, has seen its market share decline over the 12 months dropping 0.8% to 14.4% at end July this year compared to 15.2% at end July 2023.

Third place CMA CGM also saw decline in its share of the fleet from 12.8% at end July 2023 to 12.4% at end July 2024.

Maersk is set to slide further in market share as both MSC and CMA CGM have much larger newbuild orderbooks. MSC has 1.2 million teu of capacity on order equivalent to 20% of existing fleet and is set to cross the 20% market share threshold soon. CMA CGM has 1.15 million teu of newbuilding capacity on order equivalent to 30.3% of its current fleet. By contrast Maersk’s newbuild orderbook 374,966 teu or 8.8% of its existing fleet with a target fleet range of 4.1 – 4.3 million teu.

Related:Menace on the Red Sea – MSC rewires entire global network

“This will inevitably curb its market share at a time of rapid growth by competitors, notably MSC and CMA CGM. Five top 10 carriers now have orderbooks bigger than Maersk’s,” Alphaliner said.

The 10 top container lines operate some 83.9% of the global fleet of boxships in terms of capacity.

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About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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