64 percent of global container capacity in hands of five shipping lines

Date Added: 2 February 2023

64 percent of global container capacity in hands of five shipping lines

Davies Turner, with our comprehensive portfolio of international container shipping services, notes that according to the latest available data from analyst Alphaliner, at the start of 2023, MSC is by far the largest container shipping line by teu capacity, followed by Maersk, then CMA CGM, COSCO and Hapag Lloyd.

Together the top five container lines control the capacity to carry 16.9 million teu, over 60 percent of the global capacity.

MSC overtook Maersk as the biggest container line in January last year, knocking the Danish company off the top spot it had occupied for decades.

Currently, MSC has a total capacity of just under 4.6 million teu, or around 17.5 percent of the world total capacity.

In second place, Maersk has a total capacity of 4.23 million teu, or 16.1 percent of the world’s total capacity.

CMA CGM is in the third spot with a total capacity of 3.4 million teu, 12.9 percent of the total world container carrying capacity.

COSCO Group is in the fourth place with 2.87 million teu (10.9 percent of the world capacity), and Hapag-Lloyd is fifth with 1.78 million teu (6.8 percent of the world capacity).

Alphaliner’s list of the top 100 container shipping lines can be  seen here: https://alphaliner.axsmarine.com/PublicTop100/

For more information about Davies Turner’s ocean freight forwarding and logistics services, which also include an overland groupage option direct to the UK via rail, please contact ocean@daviesturner.co.uk or visit the relevant pages of this website.