Container shipping is one of the most important and necessary means of cargo transportation through sea routes. In present times, however, there is no monopoly by any container shipping companies, leading to a complete lack of friction and tension in the international cargo shipping community. All the same, there are a few international container shipping companies that lead the race in terms of the scale of operation of their shipping lines. 20 of these leading container shipping companies based on cargo-carrying capacity can be listed as follows: 1. MSC – Mediterranean Shipping Company Maersk has been in the No. 1 spot since it overtook Evergreen in 1996. The domination of Maersk Line in terms of TEU capacity has been broken first time in 25 years by the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). Representation image It is a Swiss international cargo company established in the year 1970. With a buying spree of new and old vessels, MSC added almost 100 ships to its fleet in the last year. Having 800 ships, the conglomerate is rated to be one of the most extensive cargo companies globally, with a TEU capacity of around 5,614,057 TEUs. 2. APM-Maersk A shipping corporation based in Denmark, Maersk Shipping Line dominated the world container shipping market, holding the No. 1 spot for more than 25 years. Maersk Shipping Line is an AP Moller- Maersk company branch. Widely well-known for its fleet of container ships, the Maersk Line debuted in the international container shipping arena in 1904. Now, the company is diversifying its presence in the green fuel and digital technology space. Currently, the company has a fleet of around 675 container ships with a capacity of around 4,117,136 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units). Representation image 3. CMA-CGM France’s leading container shipping company, CMA-CGM, is the 3rd largest company in TEU capacity. CMA CGM came into existence in the year 1978 as a result of a series of mergers between previously established shipping corporations. Jacques Saade, the head of the company, was the instrumental force behind its coming into active operation. At present, the company has a fleet of 624 ships operating in over 150 routes globally. It has a carrying capacity of around 3,578,494 TEU. Representation image 4. COSCO – China Ocean Shipping Company The China Ocean Shipping Company, or COSCO, as it is popularly known, is one of the leading conglomerates in terms of container shipping companies. COSCO pushed down to 4th position by CMA CGM, has its operations spread over 40 countries with a fleet of around 490 container ships with a container carrying capacity of 3,054,323 TEU. However, its order book contains an additional 837,492 TEU and 50 ships, which will be added to the company’s capacity in the coming year. Representation image 5. Hapag-Lloyd The German-based Hapag-Lloyd is one of the most renowned and well-featured companies in terms of international shipping companies. The company was established in 1970 due to a merger between the Hamburg-American Line and the North German company Lloyd. Today, the shipping corporation has 266 ships catering to about 1,963,934 TEU container carrying capacity worldwide. Representation image 6. ONE – Ocean Network Express Established on July 7th, 2017, One Network Express integrates three major shipping companies: MOL, “K”-Line, and NYK. Setup in Japan and headquartered in Singapore, ONE was founded to strengthen services in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The alliance of