If you've been following container shipping for a while, you'll remember the pre-pandemic playbook: keep your fleet lean, charter in tonnage when you need it, and stay flexible. It made sense. Why tie up billions in steel when you could rent capacity as demand ebbed and flowed?
That playbook has been thrown out the window.
According to new analysis from Sea-Intelligence, the 12 largest container lines now own roughly 63% of their operated capacity on average. Back in January 2020, that number was just 43%. In the space of six years, the industry has undergone a dramatic structural shift – and it's happening at an accelerating pace. Between 2020 and early 2025, the chartered ratio fell by about 2.5 percentage points a year. Since then, it's accelerated to 4.5 percentage points.
Who's leading the charge – and who's sitting tight
The biggest move away from chartered tonnage has come from MSC, HMM, and Wan Hai. Wan Hai has gone all the way – it's now operating entirely with owned vessels. MSC, CMA CGM, Evergreen, and PIL have all roughly halved their exposure to charters.
MSC, in particular, has been on an absolute spending spree. The carrier now operates more than 1,000 hulls with a total capacity of 7.3 million TEU. Its owned fleet alone – 4.55 million TEU across 727 ships – is larger than the combined fleet of its nearest rival, Maersk. And it's not stopping: in June, MSC was linked to orders for another 20 vessels of 20,000 TEU each.
At the other end of the spectrum, Hapag-Lloyd has made "essentially no change at all" to its ownership mix since the start of 2020. Maersk, Cosco, and Zim have also made only limited adjustments. Zim, famously, still charters in the vast majority of its tonnage – owning only about 15 ships while chartering the remaining 101.
Why the shift? It's about control
Sea-Intelligence's analysts put it this way: in the extremely turbulent market over the past six years, owning tonnage has been instrumental for carriers looking to grow market share. When the market is frequently characterised by insufficient capacity, owning vessels gives you a significant strategic advantage.
And the charter market remains brutally tight. Braemar reported that vessel availability is "exceptionally limited across virtually all size segments". Prompt and forward positions are scarce, leaving owners under little pressure to soften rate expectations. Recent fixtures tell the story: a 4,200 TEU vessel was reportedly fixed on a two-year charter at around $51,000 a day. Even a 1998-built, 2,456 TEU ship secured a six-to-eight-month charter at $60,000 a day – despite its age.
When charter rates are that high and availability that tight, owning your own tonnage starts to look less like a luxury and more like a necessity.
What this means for shippers
For cargo owners, this shift has real consequences. Carriers with owned fleets have greater control over deployment, capacity additions, and network expansion. They're insulated from the kind of extreme rate spikes that plagued the charter market during the pandemic. They don't have to worry about bidding wars at the end of a charter term, or complying with shipowners' specifications on maintenance and trading areas.
In plain English: when the market gets chaotic, carriers with owned ships can keep their schedules more predictable. And predictable schedules mean your cargo is more likely to arrive when it's supposed to.
But it also means that carriers are becoming more selective about how they deploy their capacity. They're not just throwing ships at every trade lane – they're being strategic. And that can make it harder for shippers to find space on the routes they need, especially if they don't have the right relationships.
This is where experience makes the difference
At Xiamen AE Global, we've been watching this structural shift play out in real time. Since 2018, we've been moving freight through one of the most volatile periods in shipping history – pandemic disruptions, Red Sea diversions, port congestion, and now a fundamental restructuring of how the world's biggest carriers manage their fleets.
We're a government-licensed company with IATA, FIATA, FMC, and NVOCC credentials. But what really sets us apart is our network – over 100 overseas agents worldwide – and our ability to turn that network into real options for our clients.
When a carrier like MSC doubles down on owned tonnage and starts rationalising its services, we don't read about it in the news and figure out what to do. We're already talking to our partners on the ground about how it affects vessel schedules, terminal capacity, and routing options. We know which carriers are adding capacity on which trades, and which ones are pulling back.
1. Relationships that deliver
In a market where charter rates are through the roof and vessel availability is scarce, having strong carrier relationships isn't a nice-to-have – it's a lifeline. We work directly with our partners to secure space for our clients, even when the market is tight. We don't just book containers and hope for the best. We pick up the phone. We find solutions.
2. Technology that gives you clarity
We've also invested in technology that gives our clients real visibility into their shipments – not just a tracking number, but actual insight into what's happening with capacity, schedules, and alternatives. When a carrier blanks a sailing or shifts capacity to another trade, we alert you immediately and present options.
3. Local knowledge, global reach
Based in Xiamen – one of Asia's busiest port cities – we combine the global reach of an IATA and FIATA-approved forwarder with the local knowledge of a partner who's been shipping all kinds of goods for over a decade. We've moved over 12,000 TEUs in a single year with a 98.6% on-time delivery rate for our SME clients. That's not luck – it's the result of relentless execution and a network that doesn't fall apart when the market gets complicated.
The bottom line
The container shipping industry has changed. The days of relying on cheap, flexible charter tonnage are fading. The world's biggest carriers are locking in capacity through ownership, giving themselves more control – and leaving charter-dependent operators scrambling.
For shippers, that means the rules of the game have changed too. You can't just assume there will be space available when you need it. You need a partner who understands the new landscape – who knows which carriers are adding capacity, which ones are pulling back, and how to secure space in a market where everyone's fighting for the same ships.
At Xiamen AE Global, we don't just move boxes. We help our clients navigate complexity – whether that's understanding a carrier's fleet strategy, adapting to a tighter charter market, or simply making sure your cargo gets where it needs to go, on time and on budget.
Because when the industry shifts beneath your feet, the difference between a smooth supply chain and a costly headache often comes down to one thing: who you've got on your side.
Ready to work with a logistics partner who actually understands the market? Contact Xiamen AE Global today – and let's keep your supply chain moving, no matter what comes next.
