MSC ON A FOUR YEAR VESSEL BUYING DPREE
The unmatched scale and growth ambitions of Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) is forcing competitors to scramble for tonnage. Alpahliner is reporting that MSC has now surpassed 400 secondhand ship purchases since it embarked on a historical buying spree amid the covid pandemic in August 2020. Alphaliner tallies 402 ships, while rival Linerlytica has counted 420 ships. Along with its huge order book, MSC now commands a global liner marketshare in excess of 20%, becoming the first liner in the world to break multiple size records such as surpassing 5m teu, then swiftly afterwards 6m teu. Alphaliner listed this week another eight secondhand ships bought by the Gianluigi Aponte-founded liner ranging in size from 1,740 to 8,814 teu. MSC’s aggressive moves in the secondhand market have been key in propping up charter rates, according to analysis from Linerlytica. “MSC is largely responsible for the shrinkage in the charter fleet, having taken out over 17% of the c...
