MSC, Maersk, and CMA CGM explore orders for 20,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel ships, highlighting their fleet-renewal strategies amid market shifts.
The world's three largest liner operators – Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Maersk, and CMA CGM – are each reported to be considering orders for between 10 and 20 container ships of approximately 20,000 TEU, potentially fitted with LNG dual-fuel propulsion. Together, these carriers command the top three positions in the Alphaliner ranking and control a combined capacity exceeding 16.4 million TEU, a scale that lends significant weight to their fleet-renewal decisions.
MSC, the industry's largest operator with a fleet of 1,005 owned and chartered vessels totaling 7.35 million TEU, has already advanced beyond deliberation. In June, the Geneva-based carrier placed a major order with China's Hengli Heavy Industries for a series of 20,000-TEU LNG dual-fuel vessels, with deliveries scheduled to begin in the first half of 2029.
The order reinforces an orderbook that now stands at 151 ships totaling 2.6 million TEU, equivalent to 35.4% of the carrier's existing fleet. According to Clarksons data, the vast majority of that orderbook consists of vessels exceeding 10,000 TEU, positioning MSC to extend its lead in the ultra-large segment.
Maersk, ranked second with 743 vessels and a combined capacity of 4.71 million TEU, most recently contracted newbuildings in February. The Danish carrier turned to New Times Shipbuilding for eight 18,600-TEU dual-fuel container ships, scheduled for delivery in 2029 and 2030.
Alphaliner lists Maersk with a further 90 ships totaling 1.2 million TEU on order, a figure representing 25.5% of its active fleet. As with MSC, the orderbook is concentrated in larger tonnage, with the majority of vessels exceeding 9,000 TEU.
CMA CGM, the third-ranked operator with 729 vessels and a combined capacity of 4.4 million TEU, also turned to Hengli Heavy Industries in June. The French carrier ordered a series of 6,000-TEU vessels for delivery through 2029, a choice that reflects a broader distribution across ship sizes.
The company's orderbook stands at 157 ships totaling 1.72 million TEU, or 39.3% of its existing fleet – the highest ratio among the top three. That orderbook spans feeder, mid-sized, and ultra-large container vessels exceeding 24,000 TEU, underscoring a fleet strategy built for breadth as much as scale.
While container ship contracting remains robust, ordering activity has recently shifted toward feeder and mid-sized vessels as demand for ultra-large ships has eased. Overall container ship orders rose by approximately 29% during the first half of the year compared with the same period a year earlier.
Orders for ultra-large container vessels and New Panamax ships, however, recorded the sharpest decline, falling 18% year on year. Following several years of heavy contracting, the fleet-to-orderbook ratio in the largest container ship segment now exceeds 70%, a level that may partly explain the more restrained ordering appetite in that category this year.
The reported interest in fresh 20,000-TEU tonnage from MSC, Maersk, and CMA CGM signals that the appetite for ultra-large capacity, though moderated across the wider market, has not disappeared among the operators best positioned to deploy it.
