MSC is closing in on a 20% market share in the container shipping industry, setting a new record for any liner operator. As reported by Alphaliner, MSC has expanded its fleet by at least 400,000 TEUs this year alone.

The Swiss-Italian market leader's share of the operated fleet increased to 19.8% by the end of July, the highest figure ever recorded by a carrier. Only Maersk Line, which MSC overtook in 2022, has previously come close to such market dominance. Maersk's market share peaked at 19.4% in 2018 but has been downward for five consecutive years.

Under Gianluigi Aponte's leadership, MSC is making strides to extend its lead over its competitors, with substantial new building orders in the pipeline. MSC has placed orders for six 19,000 TEU ships at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) and eight 11,500 TEU vessels at Penglai Zhongbai Jinglu Ship Industry (Jinglu), all of which will be LNG dual-fuelled.

These orders were placed shortly after MSC commissioned a dozen 19,000 TEU LNG dual-fuelled ships at Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard, bringing its order book to 1.84 million TEUs.

The delivery of 25 new buildings, including 75,000 TEUs of methanol Neopanamax box ships, temporarily stemmed Maersk Line's decline in the first half of the year, but the downward trend resumed in July. Maersk, which has chosen to limit fleet size in favour of non-shipping growth, reiterated in April its intention to maintain a target fleet range of 4.1 to 4.3 million TEUs. This decision will inevitably limit its market share during rapid growth by competitors, mainly MSC and CMA CGM.

Five significant carriers (MSC, CMA CGM, COSCO, Ocean Network Express, and Evergreen) now have order books larger than Maersk's, which stands at 442,374 TEUs. Alphaliner commented, "The group could face pressure from shareholders for this strategy if financial returns do not improve, with the group's preliminary figures for Q2 indicating an operating margin of 6%, despite the Red Sea crisis."