Maersk overtakes COSCO to lead the Intra-Asia shipping market

Intra-Asia shipping capacity increased modestly in mid-August, with Maersk overtaking COSCO to become the trade’s largest carrier, according to Alphaliner.

Alphaliner’s mid-August review of the intra-Asia (excluding domestic) trade shows a modest 6.2% year-on-year increase in deployed capacity, to just below 2.6 M teu. This compares with over 5% growth in the global 34+ Mteu container fleet over the same period.

The trade remains one of the most competitive in container shipping, with more than 80 active players surveyed in mid-August.

Most of them are small regional and feeder carriers that only held 37% of total deployed slots. Main Line Operators (MLOs) continue to dominate, controlling over 63% of capacity, despite deploying fewer vessels.

The lead comes from larger ship size: MLOs average 2,699 teu per vessel, more than double the 1,338 teu average for regional carriers.

SITC, the leading regional carrier in intra-Asia, makes the point vividly: it runs 109 ships, but its considerably smaller average vessel size leaves its total capacity at 157,000 teu well behind Maersk and COSCO’s, putting SITC in sixth spot.

This is in line with SITC’s focus on direct services to smaller and niche ports in Asia, rather than competing on scale.

SITC is the only carrier on the list besides Maersk (108 ships) and COSCO (122 ships) that operates a fleet of more than 100 vessels in the region.

Source: Alphaliner