Top 5 Biggest Container Ships in the World 2024

The international maritime transportation sector has an essential factor in world trade. According to data from the International Chamber of Shipping, more than 50,000 ships operate in the oceans. 

List of Biggest Container Ships in the World 2023

The Biggest Container Ships in 2024

We listed the world’s biggest container ships in 2024 according to their capacity, TEU, and stats. A ship’s capacity, height, and length play a significant role in container shipping because the container amount it can carry and its trade volume depends on those factors.

1- MSC Irina, MSC Loreto and MSC Michel Cappellini

MSC Irina ,MSC Loreto and MSC Michel Cappellini are currently the largest vessels in the world in terms of dead weight tonnage (dwt) and cargo capacity. These massive ships have a tonnage exceeding 240,000 dwt and can carry up to 24,346 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of cargo. Furthermore, the new design allows for containers to be stacked up to 25 layers high, providing even greater capacity for cargo transport. These “ultra-large container ships” are, in fact, the same length as others in their class; the reason that they are considered the biggest is because their deck arrangements provide for their 24,346 TEU container capacity.

2- OOCL Spain

Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd. (OOCL) has announced its first +24,000 TEU capacity mega vessel, “OOCL Spain”. The ship has a capacity of 24,188 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), making it one of the largest container ships in the world. OOCL Spain measured 399.99 meters in length and 61.3 meters in width and was built by Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. This vessel is the first of its kind for OOCL and one of the few ships that exceed the 24,000 TEU capacity.

3- ONE Innovation

One Innovation, the first Megamax in the 24,000-TEU class from One Network Express, was delivered on June 2, 2023. It was delivered to Kure Shipyard by Japan Marine United Corporation, on 2nd June. The vessel’s LOA is 399.95 m, its beam is 61.40m, and it has a depth of 33.20 m. A unique hull design that aims to increase cargo capacity and reduce fuel consumption would result in economies of size and a decrease of carbon emissions. One Innovation features an exhaust-gas cleaning system, bow windows, energy-saving devices, etc. It is also the very first of six new Megamax ships that will join ONE’s fleet.

4- MSC Tessa and MSC Celestino Maresca

MSC’s new ships, MSC Celestino Maresca and MSC Tessa are both considered one of the biggest in the industry, with a capacity of 24,116 TEUs. They took 3rd place in our list “Top 5 biggest Container Ships in 2024” in terms of capacity. Both ships measured 399.99 meters in length and 61.5 meters in width.

5- Ever Alot, Ever Aria and Ever Atop

Ever Alot by Evergreen takes place as the 4th biggest container ship in the world as of 2023, completed on the 2nd of June 2022. The ship has a 24,004 TEU capacity and measures 399.99 meters in length and 61.5 meters in width. Ever Alot is operated by the Evergreen Marine Corporation. The ship sails under the flag of Panama. Ever Alot has 2 sister ships called “Ever Aria” and “Ever Atop.” All these 3 gain ships have the same capacity, length, and width. These ships took over the Ever Ace’s record belong in 2022.

6- Ever Ace

With a capacity of 23,992 TEUs, Ever ACE fell back on the list and took its place as the 5th biggest container ship in 2023. The ship first started to sail in July 2021. 

• 399.9 meter long 
• 24 rows of side-by-side container capacity 
• 61.53 meters breadth

This ship was created by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea for Evergreen Marine. Includes 2-stroke Wartsila engine. It has 11 cylinders providing 70950 Kilowatts of power that can accelerate the ship to a cruising speed of 22.6 knots. If you need to locate your Evergreen shipments, visit our Evergreen tracking page.