Container Shipping - Statistics & Facts

In terms of value, global seaborne container trade is believed to account for approximately 60 percent of all world seaborne trade, which was valued at around 12 trillion U.S. dollars in 2017. While the quantity of goods carried by containers has risen from around 100 million metric tons in 1980 to about 1.7 billion metric tons in 2015, vessels have likewise increased their capacity. Between 1980 and 2016, the deadweight tonnage of container ships has grown from about 11 million metric tons to around 244 million metric tons. As of July 2016, the global cellular container ship fleet had the capacity to carry some 20 million standard containers. With a total capacity of around 3.3 million TEUs*, Danish shipping line APM-Maersk is currently the largest container-shipping company globally, followed by MSC, CMA, COSCO and Hapag-Lloyd. Germany's Hapag-Lloyd went public in 2015, although the industry is faced with many challenges such as low freight rates; South Korea's Hanjin was forced into bankruptcy in 2016 and Maersk acquired Germany's Hamburg Süd in 2017.

In 2016, the five leading container-handling ports worldwide were Asia-based. The port of Shanghai was the busiest container port in the world, handling about 37 million TEUs of containerized cargo. In its 2016 fiscal year, the port of Los Angeles handled some 8.4 million TEUs, making it the largest container port in the United States.

* The abbreviation TEU stands for twenty-foot equivalent unit, a standard unit of measure in the shipping industry.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
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Projected container market CAGR between 2016 and 2019

4.7%

Capacity of container ships in seaborne trade

244 m dwt
Overview of container trade
Projected container market CAGR between 2016 and 2019 4.7% International seaborne trade carried by containers 1,720 mt loaded Quantity of loaded freight in international maritime trade 10287 mt loaded Number of container ships in the world merchant fleet 5k Most frequented maritime trade routes Trans-Pacific

Top 100 Companies: Transportation & Warehousing

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Global container fleet
Capacity of container ships in seaborne trade 244 m dwt Gross tonnage of Germany’s container ship fleet 62m Largest container ship operator based on orderbook TEUs Evergreen Line Maersk is the leading container ship operator globally 4.02m TEUs 2017 Maersk revenue 30.9bn USD Number of ships owned by Maersk 312 COSCO's FY 2016 EBIT margin 8.7% Number of ships in Hapag-Lloyd's order book 0 Number of ships in Evergreen Line's order book 73 Container ship fleet's TEU capacity in 2020 21.7 Number of TEUs in the existing container ship fleet 20.3m
Ports
Largest container port worldwide in 2016 Shanghai Port of Shanghai’s container throughput 40m TEUs Container traffic handled at the Port of Los Angeles 9.2m TEUs

Container shipping - Important statistics

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Container shipping
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Overview of container trade
Projected container market CAGR between 2016 and 2019 4.7% International seaborne trade carried by containers 1,720 mt loaded Quantity of loaded freight in international maritime trade 10287 mt loaded Number of container ships in the world merchant fleet 5k Most frequented maritime trade routes Trans-Pacific

Top 100 Companies: Transportation & Warehousing

Statista Toplist 2018
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  • Includes contact details and key figures
  • available to download in Excel format for a seamless workflow
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Top 500 Companies: Logistics

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Transportation: Water in the U.S. 2018

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Global container fleet
Capacity of container ships in seaborne trade 244 m dwt Gross tonnage of Germany’s container ship fleet 62m Largest container ship operator based on orderbook TEUs Evergreen Line Maersk is the leading container ship operator globally 4.02m TEUs 2017 Maersk revenue 30.9bn USD Number of ships owned by Maersk 312 COSCO's FY 2016 EBIT margin 8.7% Number of ships in Hapag-Lloyd's order book 0 Number of ships in Evergreen Line's order book 73 Container ship fleet's TEU capacity in 2020 21.7 Number of TEUs in the existing container ship fleet 20.3m
Ports
Largest container port worldwide in 2016 Shanghai Port of Shanghai’s container throughput 40m TEUs Container traffic handled at the Port of Los Angeles 9.2m TEUs

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Container Shipping Infographic - Global Warming Opens Arctic Passage For Container Ships
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