Just a handful of years back, Maersk Line could proudly boast the accolade of being the world’s largest carrier. MSC then took over the top spot and now lead the Danish shipping line by almost 1 million teu of capacity.
However, according to reports in The Loadstar, Maersk will soon be challenged by CMA CGM for second spot, as the French owned carrier has a massive order book for 122 container ships with 1.2m teu’s of capacity.
Total teu capacity has become the acceptable industry standard for measuring which carrier is the largest, with teu being the number of twenty foot equivalent units the line’s fleet can carry.
Maersk’s fleet has a current total capacity of 4.1m teu, which puts them in second place ahead of CMA CGM. However, the Danish carrier only has 33 ships on order.
The Ocean Alliance is set to make massive additions to its combined fleet. As well as CMA CGM’s order book, their alliance partners Cosco and Evergreen also have large order books and are both adding significant capacity.
With demand so low on most global markets, especially from Asia, we are hoping the sheer number of additional capacity entering the market is a sign that these massive carriers can foresee an upturn in the economic climate.
