TOP10: The World's Largest Shipping Lines
TOP10: The World's Largest Shipping Lines
It's no surprise that shipping lines are an important part of the global supply chain. These container shipping lines currently have 6,255 ships and a capacity of 24.94 million+ TEUs, transporting a large variety of goods and products around the world.
According to Alphaliner, here are the 10 largest container shipping companies in the world by TEU capacity.
1 Maersk - 4,229,171TEU (734 ships)
Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
Number of offices worldwide: 296
Number of employees: over 83,000
Year of establishment: 1904
AP Moller-Maersk has been the largest container shipping line for the past 25 years, transporting almost 20% of the world's food, materials and goods in 130 countries.
The Copenhagen-based logistics leader has more than 900 subsidiaries, including APM Terminals, Hamburg Süd, Damco, Svitzer and Seago Line.
Maersk did not enter the container industry until 1975, when its first container ship, the Adrian Maersk, left Newark, USA, carrying 385 containers. Today, the company's largest ship, the Madrid Maersk, has a capacity of 20,568 TEUs.
Maersk's largest ship: Maersk Madrid - 20,568TEU
2 Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) - 4,101,961TEU (615 ships)
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Number of offices worldwide: 524
Number of employees: more than 100,000
Founded: 1970
MSC has grown from a single-vessel operator to the second largest container carrier with 615 ships, 500 ports on 215 trade routes, and transports about 21.5 million TEUs per year.
MSC and Maersk form the world's largest container alliance, called the 2M Alliance.
The Swiss company currently has 51 ships on order with a total capacity of 917,200 TEU. This means that after more than 20 years, the company is expected to surpass its alliance partner Maersk and become the world's largest container shipping company.
MSC's largest vessel: MSC Gulsun - 23,756TEU
3 CMA CGM - 2,988,567TEU (539 ships)
Headquarters: Marseille, France
Number of offices worldwide: 755
Number of employees: over 110,000
Year of establishment: 1978
CMA CGM is the world's third largest container shipping company. Its name comes from Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM), which means "Maritime Company" and "General Maritime Company".
The French shipping group has established a global presence in the maritime industry with a fleet of 538 ships, 285 services to 420 ports, while transporting nearly 21 million TEUs per year.
CMA CGM, part of Ocean Alliance, in partnership with COSCO and Evergreen, recently completed a major acquisition of nine LNG-powered ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs).
The nine vessels are the company’s largest ships, with CMA CGM Jacques Saade being the first ship of the series delivered and the company’s flagship.
CMA CGM’s largest ship: CMA CGM Jacques Saade - 23,000TEU
4 COSCO COSCO - 2,975,210TEU (490 ships)
Headquarters Shanghai, China
Number of offices worldwide More than 400
Number of employees More than 118,000
Year of establishment 1961
COSCO is now the world’s fourth largest shipping company, operating 54 domestic routes and 264 international routes in 329 ports in 105 countries around the world.
COSCO - China's state-owned container shipping company joined the Ocean Alliance in 2017, becoming one of the traditional giants of the shipping industry.
COSCO's largest ship: COSCO Universe - 21,237TEU
5Hapag-Lloyd - 1,782,896TEU (260 ships)
Headquarters Hamburg, Germany
Number of offices worldwide 394
Number of employees More than 13,000
Founded in 1970
Hapag-Lloyd was founded in 1970 by the merger of German shipping companies Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (Hapag) and Norddeutscher Lloyd.
Hapag Lloyd, ranked first among Germany’s largest shipping companies and fifth globally, has recently expanded its business through the acquisitions of Compaía Sudamericana de Vapores (CSAV) in 2014, United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) in 2016, and NileDutch Transport & Shipping earlier this year.
The Hamburg-based liner operator transports 11.8 million TEUs per year with a fleet of 260 ships, 121 services and calls at more than 600 ports on all continents.
Hapag-Lloyd's largest vessel: Al Dahna - 19,870TEU
6ONE (Ocean Network Express) - 1,587,172TEU (217 ships)
Headquarters Singapore
Number of offices worldwide 217
Number of employees in service More than 14,000
Year of establishment 2017
ONE was established in 2017 by integrating the three major shipping companies K Line, MOL and NYK. In less than three years, it has become the world's sixth largest container shipping company and the focus of the global logistics industry.
Since then, the Singapore-based liner operator has had a service network covering more than 120 countries and has offices in 42 countries around the world, aiming to further expand its global influence.
ONE's largest vessel: MOL Treasure - 20,182TEU
7 Evergreen - 1,399,999TEU (209 ships)
Headquarters Taipei, Taiwan, China
Number of offices worldwide 80
Number of employees More than 10,000
Year of establishment 1968
The Taiwanese shipowner was founded in 1968 with a single vessel in its fleet, the Central Trust. In 2007, Evergreen Marine Corporation, Hatsu and Italia Marittima merged into a single "Evergreen Line".
Today, Evergreen serves more than 315 locations in a wide range of trade lanes around the world. Ever Golden, built in 2018, is the company's largest container ship with a capacity of 20,000TEU.
Evergreen's largest ship: Ever Golden - 20,000TEU
8HMM - 825,060TEU (78 ships)
Headquarters Seoul, South Korea
Number of offices worldwide 72
Number of employees More than 1,500
Year of establishment 1976
HMM, formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine, is the world's eighth largest shipping company, operating services in 110 countries, with 24 subsidiaries and 3 container terminals around the world.
The Seoul-based carrier currently has 12 of the world's largest and most technologically advanced container ships, each with a maximum capacity of 24,000TEU.
HMM's largest vessel: HMM Algeciras - 23,964TEU
9 Yang Ming - 625,332TEU (87 ships)
Headquarters Keelung, Taiwan, China
Number of offices worldwide 228
Number of employees in service More than 6,400
Year of establishment 1972
Yang Ming Marine Transport, ranked ninth among the world's largest carriers, belongs to THE Alliance together with Hapag-Lloyd, ONE and HMM, providing services in more than 70 countries and 170 ports.
Although the Taiwanese shipowner's routes mainly involve intra-Asian transportation, with the establishment of a new subsidiary in France this year, the company is permanently expanding its route network, showing Yang Ming's intention to strengthen its presence in Europe.
Yang Ming's largest ship: YM Wellbeing - 14,220TEU
10 Wan Hai - 425,221TEU (149 ships)
Headquarters Taipei, Taiwan, China
Number of offices worldwide 108
Number of employees in service More than 5,000
Year of establishment 1965
Wan Hai Lines was founded in 1965 as a log shipping company between Taiwan, Japan and Southeast Asia, but in 1976 it became a full container shipping company to meet the needs of containerized international trade.
Today, the Taipei-based shipping company ranks among the top ten container shipping companies in the world, while expanding its services in Canada, the United States, South America, Africa and the Middle East.
