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‘Turbulent market’ sees major carriers favour owned tonnage over charters
['Charlotte Goldstone']
The Loadstar
By Charlotte Goldstone 3 August 2026The world’s largest container lines have accelerated their move away from chartered tonnage, with owned vessels now accounting for almost two-thirds of their fleets.
According to new analysis from Sea-Intelligence, the 12 largest global carriers have increased the percentage of owned vessels in their fleets from 43% in January 2020 to 63% – a dramatic structural shift in fleet strategy.
Sea-Intelligence’s analysis covers MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, Cosco, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Evergreen, HMM, Zim, Yang Ming, Wan Hai, and PIL.
The biggest move away from chartered tonnage has been by MSC, HMM and Wan Hai, while Hapag-Lloyd has made “essentially no change at all”.
On a relative basis, Wan Hai and HMM have recorded the most significant changes.