MSC Approaches 20% Share of Container Ship Market

The world’s biggest container line just keeps on getting bigger, with new data from Alphaliner finding that MSC is closing in on a 20% share of the market - the most dominant position any one company has ever held in container shipping. 

According to Alphaliner’s analysis, MSC added over 400,000 TEU of capacity to its fleet so far in 2024. Having done this, MSC’s operated fleet now stands at 19.8% of global container ship capacity - the largest share ever held by a company. 

The only other shipping line to come close is Maersk, which in 2018 reached a peak market share of 19.4%. Since then, however, its market share has declined. By the end of July 2023, Maersk’s share of the container market stood at 15.2% - however, it has held onto the mantle of being the world’s second-largest container shipping company.

In third place (in terms of market share) sits CMA CGM. It, too, has experienced a decline in market share. By July 2023, CMA CGM’s share of the market sat at 12.4%.

Looking ahead, Alphaliner suggests that Maersk’s market share is set to decline further - predominantly due to the fact that both MSC and CMA CGM have larger newbuild order books. At present, MSC has 1.2 million TEU of capacity on order. CMA CGM has approximately 1.15 million TEU of newbuild capacity on order. This contrasts starkly with Maersk’s newbuild order book which consists of a mere 374,966 TEU of capacity.

As Alphaliner summarised this situation, ‘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 order books bigger than Maersk’s’. 

This news comes at a time of considerable change at Maersk, with the company recently divesting itself of Svitzer, its towage and marine services business. 

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