The Mediterranean Shipping Company has overtaken Maersk to become the world's largest container line.
Alphaliner said that the Swiss-Italian company took delivery of a container ship in Singapore on Wednesday, which made it the top company. The ship was bought for $50.5 million.
With its acquisition, the fleet can carry more containers than Maersk.
According to Alphaliner, Maersk has a market share of 17% in container shipping. The world's top five container shipping lines account for more than half of the market.
The world grapples with a supply chain crisis and container shipping has had a good year. Maersk is not at the top of the list for the first time in decades.
Alphaliner said that the rise to the top of the ocean carriers was organic, unlike most other major ocean carriers who have had a series of mergers and acquisitions.
Alphaliner said that the number of secondhand container ships that the company has bought in the last few years is an "unprecedented number in shipping history."
Maersk has been aggressively expanding into land and tech.
Alphaliner expects that the world's top container shipping line, MSC, will continue to consolidate its position as the world's top carrier beyond 2022, as it has ordered more ships than other carriers.
