The ten largest container ships ever built, ranked by nominal TEU capacity.
Quick answer: 1. MSC Irina, 2. MSC Loreto, 3. MSC Michel Cappellini, 4. MSC Gemma, 5. OOCL Spain, 6. OOCL Piraeus, 7. OOCL Gdansk, 8. Evergreen A-Class, 9. HMM Algeciras Class, 10. CMA CGM Jacques Saadé.
Container ships are the workhorses of global trade, carrying about 80% of the world's traded goods by volume. Over the past decade, a race to build ever-larger vessels has pushed capacity past 24,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), with ships so massive they can only dock at a handful of the world's deepest ports. This list ranks the ten largest container ships ever built by nominal TEU capacity, a category currently dominated by a single class of vessels — the MSC Irina-class — built by the same Chinese shipyard. Rank 1 is the largest, and the top ten are separated by mere hundreds of TEU, reflecting the plateau of ship design as the industry approaches the physical limits of the Suez Canal and major port infrastructure.
The world's largest container ship, MSC Irina entered service in 2023 with a nominal capacity of 24,346 TEU. Built by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding in China, this vessel is the lead ship of a six-vessel class and is operated by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) under a Liberian flag.
MSC Loreto, delivered in 2024, is a sister ship to MSC Irina with a capacity of 24,346 TEU. It shares the same design and dimensions and is part of MSC's strategy of deploying the world's largest vessels on the Asia-Europe trade route.
MSC Michel Cappellini, delivered in 2024, is a third vessel in the MSC Irina-class, matching its sister ships at 24,346 TEU. The MSC Irina-class vessels are slightly longer than the previous record-holder (the OOCL class) and feature a wider beam to maximize container stacks on deck.
MSC Gemma, delivered in 2024, rounds out the MSC Irina-class quartet at 24,346 TEU. All four vessels are deployed on MSC's Asia-Europe routes, linking major ports like Shanghai, Singapore, and Rotterdam.
OOCL Spain, delivered in 2023, was the first of a new class of 24,188 TEU vessels built by Samsung Heavy Industries for OOCL. It was the world's largest container ship briefly in 2023 before being surpassed by the MSC Irina-class later the same year.
OOCL Piraeus, delivered in 2023, is a sister ship to OOCL Spain, also built by Samsung Heavy Industries with a capacity of 24,188 TEU. Like its sister, it is deployed on the Asia-Europe trade route.
OOCL Gdansk, delivered in 2023, is the third of OOCL's 24,188 TEU class. These vessels were the first to exceed the 24,000 TEU milestone and marked a new era in container-ship size.
Evergreen's A-Class vessels, including Ever Alot and Ever Apex, each have a nominal capacity of 24,004 TEU. Built by Samsung Heavy Industries and delivered in 2022–2023, these were the first ships to break the 24,000 TEU barrier and briefly held the title of the world's largest container ships.
The HMM Algeciras-class vessels, including HMM Algeciras, HMM Oslo, and HMM Rotterdam, each have a capacity of 23,964 TEU. Built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (now Hanwha Ocean) and Samsung Heavy Industries in 2020, these were the first ships to exceed 23,000 TEU and set the stage for the 24,000+ TEU vessels that followed.
The CMA CGM Jacques Saadé, delivered in 2020, has a capacity of 23,112 TEU. It is notable as the first large container ship to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), a significant step toward reducing the shipping industry's carbon emissions. It was also the largest container ship afloat for a brief period.
| # | Name | Operator | Built | Builder | Flag | Length | Beam | Fuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSC Irina | MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) | 2023 | Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, China | Liberia | 399.9 m | 61.5 m | Conventional |
| 2 | MSC Loreto | MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) | 2024 | Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, China | Liberia | 399.9 m | 61.5 m | Conventional |
| 3 | MSC Michel Cappellini | MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) | 2024 | Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, China | Liberia | 399.9 m | 61.5 m | Conventional |
| 4 | MSC Gemma | MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) | 2024 | Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, China | Liberia | 399.9 m | 61.5 m | Conventional |
| 5 | OOCL Spain | OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) | 2023 | Samsung Heavy Industries, South Korea | Hong Kong | 399.99 m | 61.3 m | Conventional |
| 6 | OOCL Piraeus | OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) | 2023 | Samsung Heavy Industries, South Korea | Hong Kong | 399.99 m | 61.3 m | Conventional |
| 7 | OOCL Gdansk | OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) | 2023 | Samsung Heavy Industries, South Korea | Hong Kong | 399.99 m | 61.3 m | Conventional |
| 8 | Evergreen A-Class | Evergreen Marine | 2022–2023 | Samsung Heavy Industries, South Korea | Panama | 399.99 m | 61.3 m | Conventional |
| 9 | HMM Algeciras Class | HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) | 2020 | Daewoo / Samsung Heavy Industries, South Korea | South Korea / Panama | 399.9 m | 61.2 m | Conventional |
| 10 | CMA CGM Jacques Saadé | CMA CGM | 2020 | China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), China | France | 399.9 m | 61.3 m | LNG |
Ships are ranked by nominal TEU capacity as reported by their owner/operator based on the latest available data (mid-2026). TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent unit, is the standard measure of container-ship capacity, where one TEU equals the volume of a standard 20-foot container. Rankings follow the authoritative Alphaliner Top 100 fleet database and Lloyd's List vessel data, cross-referenced with operator specifications. Where multiple ships share the same design capacity, they are listed in blocks with the year of delivery noted. Only fully built and active vessels are included; ships under construction are excluded. The Suez Canal's maximum permissible beam (77.5 meters) and draft (20.1 meters) effectively cap future growth, which is why the current leaders are all very close in capacity.
The largest container ship in the world is MSC Irina, with a nominal capacity of 24,346 TEU. It was delivered in 2023 and is operated by Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). Three sister ships — MSC Loreto, MSC Michel Cappellini, and MSC Gemma — share the same capacity.
The current generation of megaships appears to be approaching the practical limit, constrained by the Suez Canal's maximum beam (77.5 m) and draft (20.1 m), as well as port infrastructure. Most of the largest ships are exactly 399.9 m long — just under 400 m, which is the maximum length for Suez Canal transit. Future capacity increases would likely come from design improvements rather than significant size increases.
South Korea and China dominate the global shipbuilding industry, with South Korea specializing in high-value, complex vessels (like LNG carriers and megaships) and China producing the largest volume of tonnage. Japanese shipyards, once dominant, now focus on specialized niches. European shipbuilding has largely shifted to cruise ships and naval vessels.
TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) is a standardized measure of container-ship capacity. A 40-foot container equals 2 TEU. The nominal TEU capacity is the theoretical maximum under ideal conditions (all empty containers, perfect stacking), but in practice, ships carry a mix of 20-foot and 40-foot containers, and the actual number of containers carried is typically lower than the nominal TEU figure due to weight and stability constraints.