Switzerland remained the world's leading country by operated container shipping fleet capacity in the first half of 2026, while the rankings of the top 20 container shipping nations saw only limited changes, according to shipping research firm DynaLiners.
The report showed that the overall standings remained largely stable compared with the beginning of the year, with Singapore and Israel swapping positions, while Turkey moved ahead of Italy in the global rankings.
The changes came despite the entry of Greta Shipping, a new carrier in Singapore, as the country's overall operating capacity was weighed down by a significant reduction in the fleet operated by SeaLead Shipping.
Russia, meanwhile, lost two shipping companies, Modul and Silmar, from its registry but retained its 18th position. Hong Kong remained in 20th place, maintaining a comfortable lead over Malaysia, which ranked just outside the top 20.
Switzerland continued to dominate the global rankings with an operated fleet of 971 container vessels and a combined capacity of 7.14 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). Denmark ranked second with 4.61 million TEUs, followed by China with 4.35 million TEUs, France with 4.14 million TEUs, and Taiwan with 3.44 million TEUs.
The world's top 10 container shipping nations also included Germany, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Israel. The remaining countries in the top 20 were the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Turkey, Thailand, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong.
According to DynaLiners, the world's 20 largest container shipping nations collectively operate 6,291 container vessels with a combined carrying capacity of 32.68 million TEUs.
Together, these countries account for approximately 84% of the global container fleet by number of vessels and 97% of worldwide container shipping capacity, underscoring the industry's continued concentration among a relatively small group of maritime nations.
Follow the latest news on Google News
