MSC holds 20% of the container shipping market.Maersk will be in third place

MSC's share of the global container shipping market has reached 20%. Since 2018, it is the first container line to capture a fifth of the market. Six years ago, this share belonged to Maersk, which was able to hold it for only a few months, Splash reports, citing Alphaliner data.

To reach the 6 million TEU mark, MSC lacks just one container ship of the Megamax series, that is, a 24,000-tonne vessel. According to analysts' forecasts, MSC's carrying capacity in 2025 will be equal in capacity to the fleet of the Gemini alliance created by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, which will officially start operating in February next year.

Since its founding in 1970, it has taken MSC 37 years to increase its fleet capacity to 1 million TEU. After another four years, MSC surpassed the 2 million TEU mark. By early 2022, the line had surpassed Maersk, thanks to record orders and the purchase of container ships on the secondary market.

Consulting firm Sea-Intelligence recently forecast what the top 10 lines would look like in 2026, taking into account a variety of aspects including order backlog and aftermarket vessel sales. According to this forecast, MSC will significantly increase its tonnage gap with the second largest carrier, CMA CGM. Maersk will be in third place.