The title of the ‘World’s Largest Container Ship’ is about to change hands more than once in the coming weeks, as carriers are introducing numerous newly built mega ships.

The status is measured by the number of 20 foot containers a vessel is able to carry and Evergreen are the current title holders, with the ‘Ever Ace’ capable of carrying 23,992 TEU (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units),

That record is about to be broken by OOCL, who have already taken delivery of the vessel ‘OOCL Spain’. This giant ship can carry 24,188 TEU but has not been introduced into service yet.

However, MSC are due to introduce the ‘MSC Irina’ in March, which is even larger at 24,346 TEU. The vessel has already started sea trials and should become the largest container ship when it joins their fleet.

With further new builds being introduced across all three carrier alliances, the record may be broken again this year.

With demand currently being extremely low on the major routes from Asia, it may seem like an odd time for so many ships to be entering the market. However, these ships often take 2-3 years to build and the outlook for carriers looked much better when they were ordered.