Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has reached 500 secondhand containership acquisitions since August 2020, a buying blitz that Alphaliner described as unique in container shipping history and unlikely ever to be matched by another carrier, according to Splash247.
The landmark was confirmed in Alphaliner's latest weekly report, cited by Splash247, and comes with MSC's acquisition of the 2,796 teu Calandra for a reported $27m and the 1,732 teu Fitz Roy for more than $26m. When Gianluigi Aponte's company began raiding the secondhand market in August 2020, MSC operated around 3.8m teu. Today its fleet is approaching 7.4m teu, giving it more than 21% of global liner capacity, according to Splash247.
500 secondhand ships and counting
The two latest purchases extend a campaign that Alphaliner said is unprecedented in the liner sector:
MSC's buying campaign is unique in container shipping history and unlikely ever to be matched by another carrier.
Specific vessels in the latest transaction:
- Calandra — 2,796 teu, reported price $27m
- Fitz Roy — 1,732 teu, reported price more than $26m
According to Splash247, the secondhand campaign initially allowed MSC to replace chartered tonnage with owned ships, but rapidly became one leg of an unprecedented expansion strategy.
Fleet metrics: from 3.8m to 7.4m teu
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fleet size at start of secondhand buying (August 2020) | around 3.8m teu | Splash247 |
| Fleet size today | approaching 7.4m teu | Splash247 |
| Share of global liner capacity | more than 21% | Splash247 |
| Time to grow from 6m to 7m teu | 15 months | Splash247 |
| Newbuild deliveries in that 1m-teu increase | 68 ships | Splash247 |
| Newbuild capacity in that 1m-teu increase | around 799,000 teu | Splash247 |
| Additional capacity on order | more than 2m teu | Splash247 |
The table shows how newbuildings have been equally important to the expansion, according to Splash247. The carrier has continued to be linked with further large LNG dual-fuel newbuilding programmes, the publication reported.
Alliance-free network reshapes east-west trades
MSC overtook Maersk to become the world's largest containerline at the start of 2022, when the two companies each controlled just over 4.2m teu, according to Splash247. It has subsequently opened a gap of several million teu over its Danish rival.
More importantly, sheer fleet size has allowed MSC to do something none of its major competitors has attempted: operate the principal east-west trades without belonging to a global vessel-sharing alliance, Splash247 reported. Following the end of the 2M partnership with Maersk in February 2025, MSC launched its own standalone network. It retains selective slot-exchange arrangements, including with Premier Alliance carriers, but no longer relies on an alliance partner to provide the ships needed to offer a global network.
What this means for shippers and forwarders
For freight forwarders, 3PL operators and shippers, the practical takeaway is that MSC now fields a global network on its own tonnage, with selective slot exchanges rather than full alliance dependencies, according to Splash247. The carrier's fleet — approaching 7.4m teu and backed by more than 2m teu on order — gives it the scale to keep expanding east-west services independently.
The shift also changes the competitive balance: Maersk, once roughly level with MSC at just over 4.2m teu at the start of 2022, now trails by several million teu, Splash247 reported. For shippers, that means the largest carrier is no longer constrained by alliance capacity-sharing decisions and can adjust its network using owned and ordered tonnage.
According to the same report, Alphaliner described MSC's buying campaign as unlikely ever to be matched by another carrier, underlining that the fleet gap has become a defining feature of liner shipping.
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