The global fleet of container ships has surpassed 33 million TEU of capacity. This data emerges from the latest report by Alphaliner.
Several are the factors that, according to the consultancy firm, have contributed to reaching this milestone.
Among these, the continuous growth of MSC deserves to be cited, which has now surpassed 7 million TEU of capacity with a fleet of 961 ships, of which 702 are owned. The group created by the Sorrento-based shipowner Gianluigi Aponte furthermore plans to further expand its fleet in the coming years, having ordered 119 newbuildings from shipyards, for a total of 2.1 million TEU.
The gap separating the Italian-Swiss liner from the second-ranked, Maersk, is now increasingly wide; its 723 ships, of which 344 are owned, deploy an overall capacity of 4.6 million TEU. The Danish shipping company could soon be overtaken by CMA CGM, which has 707 ships (of which 348 are owned) and a capacity of just over 4 million TEU. Unlike the former, the latter can count on a much larger order portfolio: the French carrier is the one that has ordered the highest number of ships overall: 142 units, for a total of 1.82 million TEU. This is a significant orderbook, second in terms of capacity only to that of MSC.
Among the rising carriers, Alphaliner points out HMM, which has risen into the top ten with a fleet of 98 ships and a capacity of 1 million TEU.
The top ten shipping companies in the ranking compiled by the analysis firm collectively control 4040 of the 6642 container ships in circulation (60.9% of the total), for an overall capacity of 28.1 million TEU (85% of global capacity).
