10 biggest shipping companies in the world

The Danish company Maersk ranks first in the list of 15 largest shipping companies in the world. It is the largest shipping company in the world since 1996 and it looks like it has no intention of giving up its crown as its throughput surpassed 4 million TEU in 2020. Although listed in Denmark, the company is a family business and is controlled by the Möller family.

The company was founded 116 years ago in 1904 and generated more than $ 39 billion in revenue in 2019, while operating profit alone was about $ 3.8 billion and employed at least 79,000 people. Although it is headquartered in Copenhagen, it has subsidiaries and offices in most of the countries of the world, of which there are more than 125 at last count.

Mediterranean Shipping Company is an Italian Swiss company founded half a century ago in 1970. The company operates in all ports of the world and for some time has been the second largest shipping company. The company has revenues of over $ 28 billion and a staff of over 30,000 people. MSC was founded in Naples in 1970 as a private company by seafarer captain Gianluigi Aponte, when he bought his first ship, Patricia, and then Rafaela, with which Aponte opened a shipping line between the Mediterranean and Somalia. Subsequently, the line expanded with the purchase of used cargo ships. By 1977, the company was serving Northern Europe, Africa and the Indian Ocean. Expansion continued until the 1980s; by the end of the decade, MSC was serving ships to North America and Australia.

The largest shipping company in China is Shanghai-based Cosco Shipping, a former Chinese state-owned transportation, and logistics company. The company came into being only in 2016 as a result of the merger of China Shipping Company and COSCO Group. It has one of the largest shipping fleets in the world.

France’s largest shipping company is CMA CGM, headquartered in Marseille. The company was founded 42 years ago in 1978 and operates more than 200 shipping routes between 420 ports. The company operates in about 150 countries around the world and earned over $ 30 billion in 2019 alone, as well as $ 229 million in revenue, and has over 110,000 employees. The name is an abbreviation of two predecessor companies, Compagnie Maritime d’Affrètement (CMA) and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM), which translates as “Sea Freight Company” and “General Marine Company”.

Hapag Lloyd is the largest shipping company in Germany, founded 50 years ago in 1970. It is headquartered in Hamburg and has revenues of over $ 12 billion and employs 13,000 people. The company was formed on September 1, 1970 from the merger of two German shipping companies, Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG), founded in 1847, and Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) or North German Lloyd (NGL), which was formed. in 1857

The company is jointly owned by several Japanese companies, headquartered in Singapore and Tokyo, and is the most recently formed company on our list, starting just 3 years ago in 2017. The company employs at least 14,000 people. The company, which began corporate activities and sales in October 2017, began trading in April 2018, with a holding company office in Tokyo, global headquarters in Singapore, and regional headquarters in London (Canary Wharf), Richmond, Hong Kong, and Sao Paulo. and local offices in 90 countries.

The company is a Taiwanese shipping company and earns over $ 4 billion annually along with over 3,000 employees. Its main trade routes are from the Far East to North America, Central America, and the Caribbean; from the Far East to Northern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean; Europe to the east coast of North America; The Far East to Australia, Mauritius, South Africa, and South America; and an intra-Asian service linking ports in Asia to the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.

One of the largest shipping companies in the world is South Korean Hyundai Merchant Marine, which was founded 44 years ago and launched two of the largest container ships in the world. HMM has formed a global business network with four international headquarters, 27 subsidiaries, 76 subsidiaries, five overseas offices, and 10 communications offices.

The Taiwanese company is 48 years old and has about a hundred vessels. The company was founded in 1972 as a shipping line but has historical ties through the merger with China Merchants Steam Navigation Company (1872–1995), which dates back to the Qing Dynasty.

Zim is the largest shipping company in Israel, founded 75 years ago in 1945, with revenues of over $ 4 billion and revenues of over $ 50 million. ZIM was founded by the Jewish Agency, the Israel Maritime League and Histadrut (General Federation of Workers of the Land of Israel) as ZIM Palestine Navigation Company Ltd. The first ship was purchased in partnership with Harris and Dixon (based in London) in 1947.