The combined capacity of carriers controlling more than 1% of the global liner fleet grew by 10.3% in 2024. MSCCargo once again showed the strongest growth in terms of teu slots and today is the first ever container shipping line with the necessary fleet size to operate an East – West network independently. “We can now operate as an alliance-free carrier”, the Geneva-based carrier said proudly in a statement last month.
MSC added 692,000 teu slots to its fleet in 2024, which represents an abovemarket average growth of 12.3%. MSC last year received fifty newbuildings (548,500 teu), including 26 neo-panamax vessels of 15,400 – 16,600 teu which are ideal workhorses for its standalone network.
The gap with the world’s number two operator – Maersk with 4.4 Mteu – has widened to 1.9 Mteu. That said, Maersk last year started growing its fleet again (+7.3%) after reducing it in 2023 (-2.7%) and 2022 (-1.4%). This expansion is largely due to the reception of 23 newbuildings in 2024, including the first seven methanolpowered ‘Equinox’-class ships of 16,592 teu.
Contrary to previous years when there were clear winners and losers, fleet growth in 2024 was more evenly spread. Nearly all the top 12 carriers increased their capacity by more than 6.9% in 2024.
Source: Alphaliner
