The current fleet of ships larger than 14,000 TEU stands at 548 units with an aggregated capacity of 9.70 million TEU and an order book for another 309 ships totaling 5.64 million TEU. By vessel numbers, the largest order book segment falls in the 16,000-17,999 TEU category (101 ships), but the 96 ships of 18,000-21,999 TEU will add to the most capacity (1.84 million TEU).
On a carrier basis, with 153 ships, MSC deploys the most units, ahead of Maersk (72) and CMA CGM (70). MSC also has sixty-eight such vessels in the pipeline, whilst Evergreen is expecting another forty vessels. For sixteen vessels the prospective charterer is not yet known.
The following table provides an overview of ships in operation by carrier and by number of ships per capacity segment.
Eleven carriers are awaiting more big ships. There are four operators investing in the very biggest tonnage, namely CMA CGM, CoscoSL/OOCL, Evergreen and MSC. Compared to a year ago, there is a stiff rise of ships in the 18,000-21,999 TEU segment on order. They have the same breadth as the vessels of 22,000+ TEU, but are shorter in length. This contrasts with vessels built previously, which were just as long, but narrower.
Source: DynaLiners 28/25 – 11 July 2025
