As the container shipping industry continues to expand, the total order volume for global liner companies has reached a historic high, surpassing 10 million TEUs. While major shipping giants persist in their expansion, the recent strategic breakthroughs by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and HMM (Hyundai Merchant Marine) are particularly noteworthy.
Recently, a nearly 20-year-old 3,500 TEU feeder container ship acquired by MSC from a Chinese shipowner officially joined its fleet. With this addition, Alphaliner data shows that MSC’s total capacity has surpassed 7 million TEU for the first time, reaching 7,002,757 TEU, of which approximately 4.2 million TEU is from its own fleet. This further solidifies its position as the world’s leading liner shipowner, with its capacity exceeding that of Maersk, which ranks second.
It is understood that MSC became the largest shipping company in the container industry in early 2022, when its capacity stood at just 4.3 million TEUs. In just over three years, its capacity has surpassed the 7 million TEU milestone. Although MSC has never publicly outlined its full strategy, Alphaliner estimates that the company has an additional 2.2 million TEUs of capacity under construction.
It is also worth noting that although MSC has built several ultra-large vessels within the industry, its growth has primarily stemmed from the second-hand ship market. According to Alphaliner data, MSC has acquired approximately 400 vessels over the past five years, and this record-breaking expansion in capacity was also achieved through the acquisition of second-hand vessels.
In addition to MSC, another major international shipping company, HMM, has recently achieved a significant milestone in its fleet capacity, officially joining the elite ranks of carriers with over one million TEU. This milestone marks the fulfillment of a strategic goal established five years ago when the company launched its capacity expansion strategy.
Subsequently, driven by this objective, HMM proceeded to order 12 vessels of the 24,000 TEU class, along with multiple container vessels of 16,000 TEU, 13,000 TEU, and 7,500-9,000 TEU capacities.
Similar to MSC, HMM achieved this milestone without significantly expanding its fleet. According to Alphaliner data, the company currently operates a total capacity of 1,007,180 TEU, with an additional 200,000 TEU under construction. The vessel that propelled this milestone was the 10,000 TEU container vessel “Seaspan Brightness,” built in 2014—one of five vessels chartered by HMM.
Alphaliner emphasizes that despite uncertainties stemming from trade policies and tariffs, the container shipping industry continues to thrive. This year marks a period of robust growth for container shipping: Chinese shipbuilders hold new orders totaling nearly 7.4 million TEU, while South Korean shipbuilders have secured new orders slightly exceeding 2 million TEU.
Alphaliner data indicates that in the first half of 2025, Hapag-Lloyd and COSCO Shipping were the two major shipping companies with the largest percentage increases in new capacity. All top ten shipping companies increased their capacity in the first half of 2025 and have already placed orders.
Although MSC holds the largest order book, CMA CGM and COSCO Shipping have also placed significant orders, with their respective capacities under construction totaling 1.715 million TEUs and nearly 1.2 million TEUs.
Even with the anticipated phasing out of a large number of long-delayed, obsolete vessels, major shipping companies still plan to achieve significant growth.