The World’s Top 20 shipping fleets for containerised freight are analysed below, courtesy of AXS-Alphaliner.

Updated charts as at December 2009.

This is followed by new data and ranking of the World’s top 20 container ports; only 4 are in Europe. None are in the UK.

In 1980, the top 20 shipping lines accounted for 45 per cent of world container traffic capacity.  In 2000, their share had risen to 52 per cent and to 82 per cent in 2007.  In the same years, the share of the top five ship operators rose from 17 per cent to 24 per cent and then to 43 per cent. 

Since the year 2000, this concentration dynamic has been accelerating sharply.  The system of global alliances that are bringing together essentially Asian shipping lines is noteworthy.  Through mergers/acquisitions or alliances, the goal of shipping lines has been to set up global maritime networks capable of providing high-frequency, high-capacity services to the world’s three main economic centres, East Asia, North America and Europe (Fremont, 2009).