The Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), based in Geneva, has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing a total containership capacity of 7.2 million TEU. This strengthens its position as the largest shipping carrier in the world, with a dominant 21.4% share of the global fleet, according to Alphaliner.

MSC currently operates 980 ships, which brings it close to the notable milestone of 1,000 vessels. Out of these, 727 ships, with a capacity of 4.55 million TEU, are owned by MSC, while 253 chartered vessels account for another 2.65 million TEU, as per Alphaliner's data. The company also has an orderbook of 2.18 million TEU, ranking it fourth in terms of orderbook-to-existing-fleet ratio among the top 10 carriers.

This achievement is part of MSC's rapid rise since it took the lead over A.P. Moller-Maersk in January 2022. Back then, MSC's fleet could carry 4,284,728 TEU, just outpacing Maersk by 1,888 TEU, with both companies having a 17% market share.

MSC has continued to extend its lead, becoming the first carrier to reach a 20% market share in 2024, surpassing the previous high set by Maersk in 2018, which was 19.4%.

The shift in leadership ended Maersk's long-standing dominance in the industry, which began its containerized trade journey in 1975. Maersk has been known for its pioneering efforts, including building the largest ships. More recently, the Danish company has invested in vessels designed to run on carbon-neutral fuels as part of its plan to reduce emissions.

Even though it has lost its title for the largest capacity, Maersk still leads in terms of ship ownership. MSC operates around 65% of its capacity with chartered ships, while only 42% of Maersk's capacity comes from chartered vessels.

Since 2020, MSC has been led by Soren Toft, who previously was in line to take over at Maersk before moving to the Geneva-based company.

The container shipping industry has seen major changes since the pandemic, which caused a surge in demand for consumer goods, straining vessel capacity and resulting in an 81% increase in ocean freight rates in 2021, according to the Shanghai containerized freight index.