2. container-ship operators
As per 1 May 2014, the largest container-ship operators in terms of container carrying capacity in TEU is MSC, based in Switzerland . It is followed by Maersk Line (Denmark) and CMA-CGM (France). Many of the ships deployed by the operators are in fact not owned by them, but leased from so-called “charter owners”. In early 2014, it is estimated that about 60 per cent of the order book of new container ships is on account of these charter owners, while the remaining 40 per cent are ordered by the liner operators themselves; historically, the relationship used to be more in the range of 50:50 between operators and charter owners (Lloyd’s List- Daily Briefing, 2012a).