As the above infographic from Statista shows, the biggest container shipping company by number of chartered and owned ships in its fleet is APM-Maersk with 636 ships in service.
The leaderboard may be changing soon as its been reported by The Wall Street Journal that OOCL is planning to take over Cosco in a $4 billion deal.
There have also been unsubstantiated claims that Taiwanese compatriot Evergreen may be planning a merger with financially troubled Yang Ming.
Industry consolidation has also meant that many of the top 10 companies have been merged and aquired by others on the list, or combined forces to form alliances, in an effort to fight oversupply in the sector and remain profitable.
A merger between Japanese carriers NYK, MOL and K Line is currently trying to set sail for April 1, 2018.
It must first pass anti-trust reviews before the Ocean Network Express (ONE) can be formed and topple Hapag-Lloyd to become the fifth largest company, if no changes to the order book take place by 2021.
Hapag-Lloyd is the latest company to merge after completing a deal with United Arab Shipping Company.
Maersk grew considerably this year after it finalised its purchase of container shipping line Hamburg Süd from the Oetker Group and formed the 2M Alliance with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM).
Infographic: Will 2M Defeat Largest Alliance?
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has also partnered with China Cosco Shipping, Evergreen Line, and Orient Overseas Container Line to form the Ocean Allaince — the largest container shipping allaince in the world.
The total number of active vessels stands at close to 6000 worldwide and can move close to 21 million TEU, according to data provided by Alphaliner.
In 2005, the the top five container shipping companies held around 37% of the world’s containership fleet.
The consultancy also claimed that the top 10 lines will control 80% of the fleet by 2021, an increase of 25% on 2005, while Maersk Line, MSC and CMA CGM will raise the 2005 figure of 26% to 42%.