The fleet of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s largest liner shipping company, has reached an unprecedented size.
With the delivery of the LNG ship “MSC Germany”, it reached the historic size of 900 ships. In the foreseeable future, it could even reach four figures.
The fleet of the Geneva-based shipping company managed by Gianluigi Aponte, which also includes ships from its subsidiaries Medlog, Log-In Logististica and WEG Lines, currently consists of 609 of its own ships. A further 291 ships have been chartered by the shipping company. The fleet will continue to grow in the coming years: MSC’s order book includes 132 newbuildings, meaning that even a fleet size of 1,000 ships is realistic.
MSC remains the undisputed number 1
The shipping company’s capacity is also at a record high. According to the industry service Alphaliner, it currently comprises 6.47 million TEU and is therefore far ahead of the second-placed liner shipping company Maersk (approx. 4.58 million TEU). CMA CGM is in third place with 3.91 million TEU, but should soon overtake the Danes with a larger order book.
MSC broke through the 6 million barrier last June, and the industry leader currently controls a market share of 20.3%. Thanks to an extensive newbuilding program, countless purchases of used ships and – to a lesser extent – charters, the fleet of the Swiss-Italian shipping company has grown faster than that of any other. In November, MSC’s post-pandemic buying spree reached the 400 used container ship mark, which is unprecedented in shipping history.
Number 900, the LNG-powered container ship “MSC Germany”, has a capacity of 16,000 TEU and was the fifth in a series of twelve ships to be built at the Chinese shipyard YZJ.
Just recently, the shipping company ordered four more Megamax-class vessels of 21,700 TEU each (with the option for four more), this time from the Zhoushan Chagnhong International Shipyard. This is the largest order ever for the shipbuilding company. In January, MSC also purchased more second-hand ships from the fleet managed by V.Ships. (JW)
