SIMIC

SWISS-BASED container shipping giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has become the first ocean carrier to surpass a staggering 5 million TEU in fleet capacity, according to analysts at Alphaliner, in what has been described as a groundbreaking milestone for the global shipping industry.

The impressive feat highlights MSC's meteoric rise in recent years, as the shipping giant accomplished this remarkable growth from 4 million TEU to 5 million TEU in a mere 22 months, reports The Netherland's Offshore Energy.



MSC has effectively doubled the size of its fleet in just eight-and-a-half years, solidifying its position as a prominent force within the maritime sector.



Alphaliner's calculations show that MSC purchased 306 containerships with a capacity of 1.2 million TEU since August 2020, basically buying any ship the company could get its hands on.



The shipping liner has the largest orderbook by far in the industry with around 130 containerships on order including the latest contract for ten LNG-fuelled boxships with Zhoushan Changhong, a joint venture between privately-owned Jiangsu Xin Chang Jiang Group and state-owned China International Marine Containers Group (CIMC) in January 2023.



The ten 11,500 TEU vessels have been designed by CIMC's subsidiary CIMC Ocean Engineering Design and Research Institute (CIMC ORIC). The delivery of the newbuilds will be spread between 2025 and 2026.



Aside from the dual-fuel propulsion, enabling the vessels to run on both LNG and conventional fuel, the ships will also adopt the most-advanced ammonia-ready design.



The company's relentless fleet build-up has seen the delivery of five 24,000 TEU-class vessels since the beginning of this year. The ships are the world's largest container ships based on their carrying capacity.



MSC is scheduled to receive a whopping 33 neopanamax and megamax ships this year. Presumably, MSC will try to channel much of its fleet growth into new standalone loops outside of the 2M as the carrier prepares for the end of the VSA with Maersk in late 2024, according to Alphaliner.