MFC Container Solutions

Mediterranean-Far East container capacity rises 12% to 9.92 million TEU

08.19.2026

Annualised container capacity on the Mediterranean-Far East trade has increased by 12% year-on-year to 9.92 million TEU, according to DynaLiners.

The trade now has 20 dedicated weekly roundtrip services. This is one more than a year ago.

A total of 258 vessels are deployed across these services, compared with 232 vessels in the previous year. Therefore, the trade has gained 26 ships.

Average vessel capacity has also increased. It now stands at around 14,200 TEU, compared with 13,600 TEU a year earlier.

Meanwhile, total vessel capacity deployed on the trade has risen from 3.15 million TEU to 3.66 million TEU.

New services reshape the trade

Several network changes contributed to the increase.

During the past year, new services operated by Medkon Lines, the Gemini Cooperation and Wan Hai were added to the Mediterranean-Far East trade.

At the same time, services operated by FESCO and SeaLead were withdrawn.

MSC also replaced its Dragon service with the Phoenix service.

In addition, the Premier Alliance converted one of its two connections into a Europe-Far East-US West Coast pendulum service.

As a result, the overall number of dedicated weekly Mediterranean-Far East services increased from 19 to 20.

Ocean Alliance leads the market

Ocean Alliance currently has the largest annualised trade capacity on the Mediterranean-Far East route.

The alliance, comprising CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping/OOCL and Evergreen, operates four loops.

Its 53 vessels provide an annualised trade capacity of approximately 2.76 million TEU. Average ship capacity stands at 16,600 TEU.

Gemini Cooperation ranks second.

The Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk partnership also operates four loops. It deploys 57 ships with an average capacity of 16,100 TEU.

Its annualised trade capacity stands at approximately 2.46 million TEU.

MSC ranks third with three loops.

The carrier deploys 47 vessels with an average capacity of 19,000 TEU. Its annualised trade capacity reaches approximately 2.38 million TEU.

Premier Alliance ranks fourth

Premier Alliance, comprising HMM, ONE and Yang Ming, operates two loops.

The alliance deploys 37 ships with an average capacity of 15,000 TEU. Its annualised trade capacity stands at approximately 1.23 million TEU.

ZIM follows with one standalone service and annualised capacity of 344,900 TEU.

Wan Hai operates one service with annualised capacity of 203,000 TEU.

HMM also operates a separate standalone service via India on the westbound leg. This service provides annualised capacity of 202,400 TEU.

Other operators include Tailwind Shipping, a joint service operated by CU Lines, Global Feeder Shipping and X-Press Feeders, Akkon Lines and Medkon Lines.

Mediterranean-Far East capacity continues to expand

The latest 12% increase follows strong capacity growth in previous years.

According to DynaLiners, annual trade capacity increased by 10% in 2025 and by 35% in 2024.

However, average vessel size has changed much less significantly.

Although the average ship deployed on the trade has grown slightly, DynaLiners noted that average vessel capacity has not changed substantially since 2020.

The latest figures show that recent growth has therefore come largely from the addition of vessels and services rather than a major jump in average ship size.

Mediterranean-Far East trade capacity ranking

Rank	Operator/Alliance	Loops	Ships	Avg. ship capacity	Annualised trade capacity
1	Ocean Alliance	4	53	16,600 TEU	2,758,000 TEU
2	Gemini Cooperation	4	57	16,100 TEU	2,461,800 TEU
3	MSC	3	47	19,000 TEU	2,382,200 TEU
4	Premier Alliance	2	37	15,000 TEU	1,234,000 TEU
5	ZIM	1	15	8,300 TEU	344,900 TEU
6	Wan Hai	1	9	6,300 TEU	203,000 TEU
7	HMM	1	15	9,300 TEU	202,400 TEU
8	Tailwind Shipping	1	6	5,800 TEU	120,500 TEU
9	CU Lines/GFS/X-Press Feeders	1	11	3,000 TEU	112,000 TEU
10	Akkon Lines	1	7	3,100 TEU	69,700 TEU
11	Medkon Lines	1	1	1,100 TEU	32,000 TEU