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📢 European and Asian carriers have different trading portfolios! 📊 Alphaliner’s latest quarterly report on operating margins for the big carriers showed that Asian lines are generally doing better than their European counterparts. ℹ️ One of the reasons is that Europe-based operators deploy more tonnage on services to and from Europe, where exports have been sluggish. Asian carriers focus more on the healthy exports from the Far East. A comparison of the trading profiles of the top-10 carriers confirms the different priorities in terms of fleet deployment. 🌍 If we look at the total liner fleet, a quarter of all capacity is deployed between the Far East and Europe. The Asia-North America trade ranks second with 16% of the global fleet trading. Services to and from Latin America take third place with 14%. 💡 Hapag-Lloyd and HMM are the only two top-10 carriers with matching trading profiles, albeit with different percentages. HMM is actually offering more than half of its overall capacity (53%) on Far East-Europe. 📈 ONE and ZIM are the only top-10 carriers which have the highest percentage of their fleet deployed on the Transpacific. For ZIM, this percentage exceeds half of its total fleet capacity (52%). 🔍 For the other eight top-10 carriers, the Far East-Europe trade is the largest in terms of fleet deployment. This is more than in a comparable survey from three years ago when only six carriers had Far East-Europe as their number one trade. In May 2023, Latin America was Hapag-Lloyd’s most important trading area with 24% of its fleet deployed on these services. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

🛑 Stop explaining delays after the fact. Predict them in advance. 🗓️ When LA/LB congestion spiked in 2021, the data was signaling the build-up for months before it hit headlines. Forwarders monitoring the anchorage ratio rerouted proactively. Those relying on carrier-quoted ETAs spent the quarter managing client escalations. 🔄 The two ports in this chart behave completely independently. When Shanghai is elevated, LA may be clear - and vice versa. Managing Asia–Europe and Transpacific shipments from a single congestion view means you never get caught by a port you weren't watching. 🌐 The Alphaliner Congestion Rate tracks the daily ratio across major global ports, filterable by service and operator. With years of daily data to build proactive SLA buffers - and show clients the data when they push back. ▶️ Start predicting today - cdanalytics.axsmarine.com/axsmarinecom-a…

🕵️‍♂️ See which ports are backing up before your schedule does. 📝 At Shanghai in June 2026, 286 vessels are queuing at anchorage against 101 at berth - a congestion ratio of 73.7%, climbing since December. The same pattern played out in early 2021, three months before Asia-Europe schedule integrity collapsed. The anchorage queue moved first. Delay reports came weeks later. 💰 Carriers who read the signal early avoid on average one blank sailing per quarter. That's millions in recovered revenue and customer retention - and a significant reduction in reactive re-planning costs. 📊 The Alphaliner Congestion Rate API tracks the daily ratio across major global ports, filterable by service, operator, and zone. Years of daily data to feed directly into rotation planning and blank sailing decision workflows. 💡 The signal was always there. Now you can act on it before it acts on your schedule. Book a demo today at cdanalytics.axsmarine.com/axsmarinecom-a…

📢 Orderbook nears 13 Mteu, as owners turn to ‘smaller’ tonnage! 🔍 The global container ship orderbook is nearing the 13 Mteu mark, standing at 12.98 Mteu for 1,592 units. This is equivalent to 38.3% of the cellular fleet currently in service. While jumbo ship deals boosted the orderbook in 2024, the years 2025 and 2026 have seen interest move towards mid-sized tonnage. 🗓️ This shift has been building since 2025, a record year for contracting that grew the global orderbook by almost one third. No fewer than 737 containerships, or 5.05 Mteu, were ordered over the year, with the final two quarters setting alltime highs of 218 units (1.34 Mteu) and 265 units (1.57 Mteu) respectively. The rally has continued into 2026. With a few days remaining, the first half of the year has added a further 329 ships (1.89 Mteu), with the first quarter alone setting the highest Q1 order count ever, even surpassing Q1 2021 (177 units). 🚢 Despite the high number of ships, less capacity was added in teu terms, illustrating a clear shift in the 'profile' of vessels ordered since the second half of last year. 📉 Since July 2025, 74% of orders were for ships of less than 6,500 teu. This compares with less than 30% in the corresponding period a year earlier (Q3 2024 to Q2 2025). 💡 Orders placed during the post-pandemic wave and in early 2024 focused primarily on large and ultra-large ships. This was driven by the carriers’ fight for market share, as well as their pursuit of economies of scale on mainlines. ℹ️ Carriers later identified that pressure on the smaller ship segment was building. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

📢 Going large: More 8,000+ teu ships muscle into intra-Europe! 🚀 The number of vessels above 8,000 teu trading in the Mediterranean has nearly doubled in just one year, climbing from nine to sixteen. 📈 A jump of 78%, compared to a year ago in a trade where the average ship size today is 1,870 teu. 🚢 MSC remains the driving force behind this big-ship push, operating nine of the sixteen large vessels, up from six of nine a year ago. Its new additions include the MSC GISELLE (9,411 teu), MSC ELMA (9,408 teu), the sisters MSC LAGOS X and MSC NAIROBI X (9,403 teu each) and MSC BRITTANY (9,288 teu). ℹ️ COSCO SHIPPING Lines has doubled its footprint to two units, while Hapag-Lloyd keeps operating a single large ship, the SOFIA EXPRESS (8,750 teu). 🌐 Of note, most of the biggest intra-Europe vessels (14 out of 16) are operating in the North Europe - Mediterranean service segment, due to the relatively long distance compared to intra-regional traffic. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

⏲️ Every delayed vessel creates a chain reaction. 🧠 Inventory planning. Terminal operations. Inland transport. Customer commitments. The challenge isn't just knowing where a vessel is today - it's understanding where it will be tomorrow. 🔮 Alphaliner Predict helps shipping and logistics professionals move from visibility to foresight by delivering daily forecasts for: 🔸ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) 🔸ETB (Estimated Time of Berthing) 🔸ETD (Estimated Time of Departure) 🛰️ Powered by decades of actual sailing schedule data and advanced statistical modelling, Alphaliner Predict provides a forward-looking view of container vessel movements across global services. Why does it matter? ✔️ Improve inventory and production planning ✔️ Anticipate the impact of port congestion and delays ✔️ Make faster, data-driven operational decisions ✔️ Deliver more reliable information to customers ✅ In a market where disruptions can quickly ripple across the supply chain, predictability becomes a competitive advantage. 💡 Discover how Alphaliner Predict can help your team stay one step ahead: public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner-pre…

📢 MSC and Maersk market share gap keeps widening! 🗓️ The two leading container carriers displayed notably different market share trends in the month of May. 🏆 Following the explosive growth in its fleet seen from 2020 onwards, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) last month hit a new record in terms of market share, operating 21.5% of total global container capacity. ℹ️ No carrier has ever previously achieved such a quota, with the only other carrier to come close, Maersk, achieving 19.3% of the market in 2018. 🚀 Geneva-based MSC continues to eat into the market share of other lines, and it was the only top-10 carrier to reach a high in its market share this year. The world’s largest container carrier has effectively doubled its market share since 2010. 📉 At the other end of the scale, A.P. Moller-Maersk has adopted a very different strategy, and May saw the carrier languish at its lowest market share in twenty years. Tonnage operated by the group represented just 13.7% of the total container fleet, the lowest point since the Danish group bought P&O Nedlloyd in 2005. ♻️ Maersk’s deliberate decision to cap its fleet at 4.1–4.3 Mteu from early 2024, combined with the relentless growth in the overall container fleet, has condemned the company to a falling market share. The Danish carrier said that is would prioritise decarbonised fleet replacement and integrated logistics to achieve its strategic and financial objectives. 🌐 Elsewhere in the top-10, CMA CGM maintained a firm market share, holding 12.5% of the global fleet, only marginally down from the carrier’s peak of 12.9% in 2023. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

📢 Far East - Europe and Africa absorb most of fleet growth! 📉 The effect of the military conflict in the Middle East on shipping is clearly visible in the global container fleet deployment per trade. Vessel capacity deployed in services to the Middle East and India is down 7.6% year-on-year. 🔄 For the other trades, we see a continuation of the trends of the previous years. The largest trade, Far East - Europe, continues to grow strongly. Capacity deployed in African services saw a spectacular 25.3% increase year-on-year. Latin America also continues to be an important growth region for liner shipping. 🗓️ The capacity of the global container fleet increased 5.7% during the past twelve months to 33.9 Mteu. Between May 2025 and May 2026 another 1.84 Mteu of new teu slots were added to the fleet. 📊 A very large part of the new capacity was absorbed by the Far East – Europe trade. An extra 667,400 teu slots were deployed on this route, representing 36% of all the newly added fleet capacity. Overall vessel capacity was up 8.5% year-on-year. 📈 After an already impressive 11.7% increase between May 2024 and 2025, some carriers were still short of tonnage to staff all Far East – Europe loops which are deviating around the Cape of Good Hope due to the Red Sea crisis. 🔍 With 25% of the global fleet now trading there, it is by far the largest shipping lane for the liner fleet. Three years ago, the percentage stood at 20.8%. It might further increase as long as carriers cannot sail through the Strait of Hormuz. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

📢 Route trends lead to range of Q1 operating margins for lines! 🗓️ The average operating margin for the leading container carriers reached 5.2% in the first quarter of 2026, practically unchanged on the previous three months, but the result disguised a wide variety of individual performances by the lines. 📊 While the average ratio of EBIT return on carriers’ revenues remained in positive territory, and only marginally lower than the previous quarter’s 5.3% average, the gap between well and poorly performing lines grew more clearly in the period, forming two distinct groups. 📉 As in the previous quarter, three carriers declared operating losses: ZIM, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd reported EBIT of -USD 5 M, -USD 174 M and -USD 192 M on shipping activities for the period. ℹ️ This produced negative operating margins ranging from –0.4% (essentially a break-even result) to –3.6%. It was Maersk’s second consecutive quarter of operating losses for its Ocean division. 💲The lines, which operate above average capacity on the Transatlantic, suffered from shrinking export volumes out of Europe, which impacted both volumes and prices. 🔍 Also at the low end of the range, Yang Ming and ONE returned to profit in Q1 after slumping to a deficit in the fourth quarter of 2025. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

❓How much time is your team spending reacting to schedule changes instead of anticipating them? 🧠 Alphaliner Predict helps you stay proactive by giving you real-time visibility into containership fleet port calls, including accurate ETA, ETB & ETD insights across global liner services. 🛰️ Powered by decades of container shipping history and live operational signals, Alphaliner Predict API enables you to: 🔸 Automate schedule intelligence 🔸 Anticipate disruption before it hits operations 🔸 Reduce manual intervention and reactive firefighting 🔸 Scale predictability across networks and customers 📊 From terminals and ports to logistics providers and shippers, better predictability means stronger supply chain performance. 👉 Learn more and book your demo at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner-pre… 🔮

📢 Mirna Haddadin, Sinem Sen, Mael Pape-Léostic and Johnny Dewan from Signal were on the ground at TOC Europe in Hamburg this week. 🌍 It was a great event filled with meaningful catch-ups and conversations with clients throughout - exactly the kind of connection that makes these gatherings worthwhile. 💭 Thank you to everyone who stopped by to connect! #TOCEurope #ContainerShipping

📢 European carriers control most of Europe-ECSA & WCSA trades! 🌍 The trades between Europe and the two coasts of South America are largely controlled by four European carriers. MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd together operate 93.3% of all capacity, based on April figures. 💪 COSCO SHIPPING and Ocean Network Express (ONE) are the only Asian carriers trading between Europe and the East and West Coasts of South America, with a joint market share of 6.2%. This leaves only 0.5% for two niche carriers. ℹ️ A total of 99 container ships were trading between Europe and ECSA & WCSA in April, representing a total capacity of 710,530 teu or 2.1% of the total cellular container fleet. 🚢 The Europe – ECSA trade was host to 49 ships with a total capacity of 369,573 teu. This was slightly larger than the Europe – WCSA trade with 50 ships totalling 340,957 teu. The average size of the ships trading to the East Coast is 7,542 teu. This compares to 6,819 teu for the West Coast. 🥇 MSC is now the market leader on both routes. Its market share by capacity deployed between Europe and ECSA stands at 34.8%. The Geneva-based carrier increased its capacity 4.1% year-on-year. 📉 This was enough to take over the number one position from Maersk. The Danish shipping line reduced its capacity by 13.0% y-o-y by shifting a series of 10,589 teu ‘Cap San-class’ ships to the Asia – Latin America trade in a swap with ‘L-class’ ships of 8,850 teu, which are now deployed in the Europe – ECSA ‘Samba’ service. 🔄 Despite this vessel swap, Maersk still has a strong market position with a 31.9% share. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

📈 Struggling to keep pace with constant changes in the container shipping market? Between fleet developments, vessel movements, and shifting trade patterns, fragmented data can slow down critical decisions. 🔍 With Alphaliner, you get a reliable, real-time view of the global liner industry - transforming complex market data into actionable intelligence. 🚢 Track fleets, monitor services, analyze orderbooks, and stay on top of market developments through one trusted platform used across the shipping industry. ⚡ Replace manual research and disconnected sources with faster insights, smarter planning, and greater confidence in your strategic decisions. 👉 Discover how Alphaliner helps industry professionals stay ahead in a fast-moving market at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner?utm…

📢 The global container supply chain community is gathering in Hamburg - and we'll be there! 🌍 Next week, TOC Europe will bring together the world's leading minds in port and terminal operations for three days of breakthrough technologies, forward-thinking strategies, and connections that matter. With 4,500+ attendees, 100 thought-leading speakers, and 900 port & terminal executives from over 100 countries - this is where the future of the industry takes shape. 🤝 Our Sinem Sen and Mirna Haddadin will be on the ground, connecting with senior decision-makers from across ports, terminals, and maritime logistics, and exploring the partnerships and opportunities that drive businesses forward. 📍 If you're heading to Hamburg, reach out to Sinem or Mirna - they'd love to connect in person! #TOCEurope

📢 MSC has almost half of the North Europe - Med market! 🚢 MSC controls nearly half of all cellular capacity deployed in the North Europe - Mediterranean trades which as per 1 May stands at 360,517 teu. 📈 The Geneva-based carrier has by far the highest market share of all carriers in the North Europe - Med service segment. It reaches 45.5%, more than double that of its overall 21.6% global market share, placing it well ahead of all competing operators. 🌍 Alphaliner has identified only ten carriers offering regular liner services between North Europe and the Mediterranean. 💪 Seven of these are established Main Line Operators (MSC, CMA CGM, Maersk, COSCO Shipping Lines, ONE, ZIM and Hapag-Lloyd), collectively accounting for 97.3% of the total North Europe - Med capacity. 📊 This leaves a combined share of just 2.7% for the three regional carriers Tailwind Shipping Lines, Borchard Lines and Akkon Lines. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

⏪ Looking back at last month's breaking news, container shipping developments showed a market adjusting on multiple fronts: from fleet ownership to operating speeds. 📰 Based on Alphaliner’s Weekly Newsletter: 🔸 Far East–Oceania capacity surged by 12%, outpacing global fleet growth 🔸 MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM led the expansion, reshaping rankings on the route 🔸 The decline of Non-Operating Owners slowed, but carriers continued absorbing tonnage 🔸 Regional carriers outperformed global lines, driven by strong intra-Asia demand 🔸 Rising bunker prices pushed fleet speeds to their lowest levels in over two years 📌 The takeaway: growth continues, but it’s becoming more selective, more regional, and more cost-driven. 📝 We’ve summed up the major container shipping developments we reported throughout April in our latest blog. 👉 Read our recap here: public.axsmarine.com/blog/notable-c…

⏪ Looking back at April, container shipping data revealed just how abnormal current market conditions were. 🔎 Based on Alphaliner insights: 🔸 Container ship transits through Hormuz remained extremely limited, even after the ceasefire 🔸 Several vessels were attacked or seized, marking a clear escalation in risk 🔸 International liner participation became sporadic and highly selective 🔸 Global fleet capacity expanded beyond 34 Mteu, with MSC exceeding 7.3 Mteu 🔸 The market remained fully employed, but partly because capacity was effectively trapped or diverted 📝 We’ve broken this down in our latest data-driven article recapping the main container ship trends observed throughout April. 💡 Read our full blog: public.axsmarine.com/blog/key-conta…

📢 Chinese-built slow-steamer container ships: from domestic workhorses to charter market stars? 📅 Over the past decade, the Chinese coastal and domestic trades have absorbed numerous container ship newbuildings designed specifically for this growing sector of the liner market. Most of these vessels share features that adapt them to the specific requirements of the trade. 🛳️ The Chinese domestic lines favour very compact ships with a high deadweight, small engines, modest reefer intakes, and slow sailing speeds that rarely exceed 15 knots. Typically, these ships are built without gear and their lashing bridge arrangements are minimal to non-existent. ℹ️ The ship design reflects the nature of the cargo and the routes, with fairly high average container weights, a low percentage of reefer containers, and relatively short steaming distances between the Chinese main ports. 🔎 One might describe these ships as 'low tech' vessels with specifications that make them resemble open-hatch bulk carriers without cranes. 🏗️ While some of this tonnage was produced by first-tier yards such as Yangzijiang or Jinling, many vessels originate from lesser-known producers of the second or third tier that primarily build tonnage for compatriot owners in China. ✅ Read the full story and subscribe for the latest news in Liner shipping at public.axsmarine.com/alphaliner/pub….

⚠️ Container planning changes between schedule releases. 🔀 Transit times move. Capacity shifts. Service patterns evolve week by week, sometimes before the impact is visible in rates, lead times or customer commitments. Published schedules only tell part of the story. 👨‍💻 Alphaliner’s APIs help turn live vessel and service data into practical benchmarks for day-to-day decisions: 🔸️ Transit Time API: Track actual transit time performance by lane and service. Compare routings, monitor consistency and identify where schedules are starting to drift. 🔸️ Capacity Watch API: Follow deployed capacity week on week. Spot service changes, vessel deployment shifts and forward capacity signals before they affect planning assumptions. 🧠 Together, they bring real-time container ship intelligence directly into your planning, commercial and operational workflows. ✅ Less guesswork. Better benchmarks. Faster and more accurate decisions. 👀 Want to see how this maps to your key loops and trade lanes? 💡 Book your demo with our team today: cdanalytics.axsmarine.com/axsmarinecom-a…

✨Last week, we had the pleasure of being represented by Sinem Sen and Mirna Haddadin at the three-day Mediterranean Ports and Logistics 2026 event in Porto. 📝 Alongside the conference programme, their busy agenda included customer visits, prospect meetings and supplier discussions across the port and logistics community, including port authorities, terminal operators and freight forwarders. 🎉 A particular highlight cherished by Sinem and Mirna was the reception dinner hosted by YILPORT Holding Inc., which brought together familiar faces from across the port and logistics community. 🙌 Thank you to everyone who took the time to meet with our colleagues in Porto. We look forward to continuing the discussions.

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