A new MSC order for five ultra-large container ships of 23,000 TEUs to the South Korean Daewoo shipyard, worth 152 million dollars each, could make it the biggest shipping company in the world in 2021, surpassing Maersk, which currently holds that position, according to Alphaliner.
According to Soren Skou, the chief executive of Maersk, "we intend to continue being disciplined in terms of capacity and comply with our route to maintain 4 million TEUs of deployed capacity." Currently, the fleet of the Danish shipping company has 4.2 million TEUs, a figure that could be higher as scrubbers are currently being installed in several ships, which has forced the shipping company to maintain a higher chartered tonnage level than normal.
It should be noted that Maersk is no longer the shipping company that operates the largest container ship in the world. MSC is the current leader with its MSC Gulsun, of 23,765 TEU, which provides service between Asia and northern Europe. All this despite the fact that Evergreen has already commissioned the construction of a ship that will surpass the MSC Gulsun.
With MSC threatening to end Maersk's long reign as the largest operator in the industry, the Danish shipping company could be pressured to reconsider its strategy of new acquisitions and thus order the construction of new container ships to support its growth.
