Under the restructuring of the alliance, the world's largest shipping company, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), still maintains its pursuit of increasing capacity. In addition to ordering a large number of new ships and continuing to sweep the second-hand ship market, it seems that it has recently targeted the charter market.

Data shows that since 2020, MSC has purchased over 420 second-hand container ships. This is an unprecedented and unparalleled event in the history of shipping.

According to the latest data from Alphabiner, among the top 100 global shipping companies in terms of capacity, Mediterranean Shipping ranks first, operating a total of 872 ships with a total capacity of 6.218 million TEUs, including 578 self owned ships and 294 leased ships, with an unprecedented market share of 20.1%. In addition, MSC has 131 new shipbuilding orders with a total capacity of nearly 1.932 million TEUs.

Recently, MSC purchased three second-hand ships, namely the Shina (5117TEU, built in 2005), CSL Manhattan (5039TEU, built in 2005), and Ludwig Schulte (1749TEU, built in 2008).

At the same time, transaction records show that MSC seems to be targeting the charter market again recently.

MSC recently leased the newly delivered 8030TEU "Manzanillo Bridge" vessel from Sinokor Merchant Marine for a period of three months at a daily rent of $90000.

MB Shipbrokers stated that MSC has reached a "significant charter deal" by leasing two 9000 TEU container ships terminated by Zim for a period of three years at a daily rent of over $40000. In addition, MSC has extended the leases of several 8000 TEU container ships until 2026 and 2027.

MB Shipbrokers pointed out that there are rumors in the market that MSC is still involved in another "big deal" involving 10 7500-9500 TEU container ships, whose leases will expire in 2026.

MB Shipbrokers stated that it is MSC's relentless pursuit of second-hand container ships that has absorbed a large amount of capacity through purchasing and leasing, reducing the number of ships available for leasing in the market, prompting competitors such as Maersk and Hapag Lloyd to renew charter contracts and seek to increase capacity. This is also a key driving force behind the significant rebound in container midship rent this year.

MB Shipbrokers said, "The terms seem to be stable across the board. However, this may not fully explain the situation, as forward transactions indicate more robust market conditions

MB Shipbrokers said, "These transactions once again highlight MSC's intention to continue locking in capacity in a market where there is a clear lack of available large vessels for leasing

In short, as stated by Bud Darr, Executive Vice President of MSC, under the leadership of billionaire Captain Gianluigi Aponte, investing heavily in increasing capacity and building a larger fleet is one of the secrets to MSC's success.

He pointed out, "Investing in additional capacity is like everyone in the value chain should learn from the pandemic and invest in additional capacity in the supply chain

In other words, the biggest moat in the consolidation market used to be the fleet size. In fact, it is also thanks to MSC's large-scale investments in recent years that it is not only able to flexibly respond to market demand in the post 2M alliance era, but also has sufficient capacity "redundancy" to cope with the impact, including the recent Red Sea crisis.

In summary, individually speaking, geopolitical conflicts such as strikes, the Red Sea crisis, supply chain disruptions, and overcapacity can all potentially have a serious impact on the consolidation market In fact, whether one likes it or not, if we look at it from a different perspective, Captain Gianluigi Aponte, the world's richest shipping magnate, is still willing to invest heavily in increasing transportation capacity and improving the resilience and reliability of the supply chain in an era full of uncertainty and fragmented trade. Regardless, this should be a good thing for cargo owners and the global value chain.

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