AXS-Alphaliner - AXSMarine

AXS-Alphaliner 

Survey 

- AXS-Alphaliner - 

The worldwide reference in liner shipping 

Liner Market Shares 

2008 

Short version - For the full version, please contact us at commercial@axsmarine.com 

This survey examines the evolution of the global liner market 

shares of large carriers, based on the liner/container shipping fleet 

monitored by Alphaliner and published at www.axs-alphaliner.com. 

These market shares assessments provide benchmarks 

for the liner shipping industry. 

Extracts of this survey can be reproduced provided that the source is appropriately mentioned. 

In case of doubt, thanks to contact us. 

Web: www.axs-alphaliner.com | E-mail: data@alphaliner.com | MSN: support@axsmarine.com

April 2008 

APM-Maersk to break the 2 million teu mark 

The A.P. Møller-Maersk operated fleet*, is to break the 2 million teu 

mark at the end of April 2008, according to figures compiled by 

Alphaliner. APM-M has thus doubled its fleet since it passed the One 

million teu mark in December 2004. 

After some difficult times during which it saw its global market share 

recede from 18.2% to 16.0% in the wake of the purchase of Royal 

P&O Nedlloyd, APM-Maersk is now bouncing back. 

During the first four months of 2008, its operated fleet grew by 

6.3%, which is the best growth rate achieved among the TOP 5 

carriers, as illustrated by the below table. 

TOP 5 fleet progression on latest 4 months – 1 st Jan-30 Apr 2008 

APM-Maersk * 6,3% 

MSC 4,2% 

CMA CGM Group * 2,0% 

Evergreen Line 1,1% 

Hapag-Lloyd 1,1% 

All five 3,9% 

Notes : 

• APM-Maersk includes Maersk Line, Safmarine and MCC Transport 

• CMA CGM Group includes CMA CGM, Delmas (with OTAL), ANL, US Lines, Cagema, 

Feeder Associate System, MacAndrews, Cheng Lie Navigation Co and CoMaNav 

Source : Alphaliner 

This fleet growth allowed Maersk to regain market share, growing 

from just over 16.0% to 16.3% during the first four months of 2008. 

However, since the recent wave of deliveries came to an end in 

April, the carrier’s share is now expected to stagnate for a few 

months. It may even slide back again, unless high cargo volumes 

prompt the line to charter in additional ships. 

… / … 

Liner Market Shares Page 2 of 9 © Alphaliner 2008 

Web: www.axs-alphaliner.com | E-mail: data@alphaliner.com 

MSN: support@axsmarine.com




Maersk’s remarkable comeback can be explained by a change in 

management and strategy as well as massive deliveries of newbuildings. 

During the first four months of 2008, no less than 20 newbuildings 

-owned or long term chartered- have joined the Maersk Line 

and Safmarine fleet, for a total capacity of 113,000 teu. 

Furthermore, Maersk has ceased to release or to sublet ships, except 

for a trio of 5,500 teu units to be released in mid-2008, for which 

the charters were not renewed. To the contrary, it is to recover at 

the end of April, the 4,546 teu HIJAZ (ex MAERSK DIADEMA – alias 

VIKTORIA WULFF), which has been sublet to UASC for the past 18 

months. 

Maersk has also been active again on the charter market, although 

exclusively for ships under 2,100 teu. During the first four months of 

2008, the carrier has either chartered in or extended some 40 ships. 

It has also exercized some ten options at advantageous rates, half of 

them in the 2,500-4,500 teu range. 

However, the line has been inactive on the ordering side for a while, 

although in this respect, it is far from alone. Carriers are obviously 

taking a breath after last year’s hectic ordering activity, with a total 

of 3.6 Mteu ordered for a contractual value of USD 53 bn, according 

to Alphaliner figures. Credit tightening and a bearish economic outlook 

presently weigh on the ordering decision process. Hardly 

350,000 teu have been ordered since 1 st January. 

With a declared orderbook reaching only 340,000 teu (end April), 

APM-Maersk is not in a position to maintain its market share over 

16% in the medium term (2009-2011), unless a vigorous chartering 

activity helps to keep the pace at which rivals MSC and CMA CGM 

are to grow, with unrivalled orderbooks hovering around the 

600,000 teu figure for each of them. However, perhaps APM-Maersk 

has hidden plans. Especially as the Odense shipyard is underloaded 

for the years 2009 and beyond. 




AXS-Alphaliner 

ANNUAL MARKET SHARE SURVEY 

AS AT 1 st JANUARY 2008 

LEADING TRIO CONTROLS ONE THIRD OF LINER MARKET 

The global market share of the three world leading lines, Maersk 

Line, MSC and CMA CGM, has grown from 32.1% to 34.1% in 

terms of TEU capacity during the year 2007, according to the latest 

figures published by AXS-Alphaliner. 

Taking the eight-year old figures at 1 st January 2000 as a comparison, 

the three leading lines at the time, Maersk Sealand, Evergreen 

and P&O Nedlloyd, had a combined market share of 23.7%. 

However, the growth in 2007 has been far from being equally shared 

by the three leading lines, as Maersk Line continued to lose ground 

while MSC and CMA CGM continued to strengthen their positions, as 

reflected in the below table and graph. 

Quite remarkably, MSC and CMA CGM are among the very few 

carriers which are family businesses and thus do not have to bow to 

shareholder pressure. They are also the best placed to still increase 

their market share, with huge orderbooks dwarfing by far those of 

rivals. 

Market Share progression on 24 months – Jan 2006-Jan 2008 

Jan 06 Jan 07 Jan 08 

Maersk Line 18,2% 16,8% 16,1% 

MSC 8,6% 9,8% 10,4% 

CMA CGM Group 5,6% 6,5% 7,6% 

All three 32,4% 33,2% 34,1% 

Source : Alphaliner 




THE MARKET SHARE EVOLUTION DURING 2000-2008 

Between January 2000 and January 2008, the teu capacity deployed 

on liner trades has more than doubled. It has risen from 5,150,000 

teu to 11,696,000 teu, i.e. a 127% increase, according to AXS- 

Alphaliner data. This means that in order to simply keep their market 

shares stable during that period, carriers had to increase their 

fleet capacities by 127%. Those who failed to invest, or charter, 

enough to keep pace have lost market share. 

The graph next page illustrates the performances of a selection of 

carriers among the TOP 30 lines. It is based on the ratio between 

market shares at 1 st January 2000 and 1 st January 2008. For example, 

CSCL’s market share rose from 1.67% to 3.69%, i.e. an increase 

of 120.1%, as its fleet grew by 400% during the past 8 years 

(i.e. an average annual growth of 22.3%). 

Market shares are deducted from the existing on board teu capacities 

of carriers, compared to the total capacity effectively deployed 

on liner trades (these figures take into account cellular ships, multipurpose 

ships and roro ships which are effectively employed on 

regular liner services, and they DO NOT include ships which are 

operated OUTSIDE liner trades, even if these ships are teu-fitted). 

Alphaliner computes total market capacity and the carriers’ individual 

market shares on a daily basis. These figures are published online 

in our AXS-Alphaliner TOP 100 page, which is free to access. 

As clearly illustrated by our figures and the below graph, the three 

rising stars of this decade so far are CMA CGM, MSC and CSCL. 

This trio even deserves a particular mention as these lines grew 

mostly organically, although CMA CGM bought a few niche carriers. 

Fourth in the ranking comes Hapag-Lloyd. The carrier substantially 

raised its market share thanks to the 2005 purchase of CP Ships by 

its parent company TUI AG, for merging within the Hapag-Lloyd 

business. 




ANALYSIS BY CARRIER 

The analysis by carrier is illustrated by a series of graphs showing the evolution 

of the fleets of 21 carriers since 1996 and of their market share since 1 st Jan 

2000, the date at which Alphaliner started to compile the latter figure on a 

regular basis. The full market share survey includes comments on the evolution 

of the market share of individual carriers, and assess how their current orderbook 

will affect their future positions. The full survey can be ordered from 

AXSMarine. Please contact us at commercial@axsmarine.com. 







Alphaliner is an independent consultancy providing an exhaustive and permanently 

updated inventory of all the world liner services, with their description, 

including detailed rotation and ships deployed. A full section is dedicated to the 

liner operators, with trading profiles, fleets and orderbook. Detailed descriptions 

of all the world containerships are provided, together with their commercial 

history and their current status. 

This data is available by subscription at www.axs-alphaliner.com, a website 

elaborated by AXSMarine to harbor Alphaliner data and providing sophisticated 

tools to handle this data.

AXS-Alphaliner - AXSMarine

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