From Hellenic Shipping News, January 10:
Top 10 container lines: How did rankings change during boom?
Container shipping lines reaped massive windfalls during the COVID-era consumer boom. Different ocean carriers pursued different fleet strategies in 2020-22, from aggressively maximizing market exposure on one hand to keeping capacity flat or even reducing it on the other.
The liner bonanza isn’t over yet — high contract rates should keep outsized profits flowing well into this year. But with the historic super-cycle winding down, it’s time to take stock of how fleets evolved over the past three years.
Alphaliner released its overview of 2022 fleet changes on Tuesday. Together with Alphaliner’s historical records, the data shows that the aggregate market share of the top 10 lines has stayed steady through the super-cycle — now at 85% of the global fleet versus 84% in early 2020 — but with big changes among individual players.
There are “major discrepancies between the ‘gainers’ and ‘losers,’” said Alphaliner.
The big gainers
Between Jan. 1, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2023, Alphaliner data shows the top 10 liners increased aggregate capacity by 2.6 million twenty-foot equivalent units or 13%. Five companies drove the gains.
MSC: Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) — the world’s largest carrier since surpassing Maersk last January — has been the biggest gainer in terms of absolute capacity. Its capacity is up 832,324 TEUs or 22% over the three-year period.
According to Alphaliner, MSC increased capacity by 7.5% in 2022, primarily through second-hand acquisitions. It boosted capacity by 10.7% in 2021 through a combination of second-hand acquisitions, charters and newbuild deliveries.
CMA CGM: France’s CMA CGM is now the world’s third-largest liner operator, up from fourth place pre-pandemic.
CMA CGM grew the second fastest in terms of TEUs after MSC. It hiked capacity by 697,327 TEUs or 26% over the past three years. A portion of that growth was fortuitous timing, courtesy of newbuilds delivered in 2020-21 that were ordered before the boom. Capacity rose 7.1% last year....
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