In the below table, you can find our list of largest container vessels, in terms of TEU capacity, by year – the record breaking container vessel of the year.
The data it contains is based on our own research and publicly available information. It is often based on our interpretation of possibly diverging or even contradictory information and therefore may contain incorrect information or certain record breaking vessels may have been missed. If you spot an issue, feel free to leave a comment with a reference link and we will be happy to fix it.
Feel free to re-use this data / table but please share this page or logisticselearning.com as its source.
If a year or multiple year windows are not listed it means that based on our information the previous record breaking vessel was still holding the record.
For example, American New York was the largest container vessel from 1984 until 1990 when Magleby was built.
You can see below a video of the container ship CMA CGM Brazil, a container vessel from the Very Large Container Ship category, approaching the port of Charleston, S.C. where it docked at the Wando Welch Terminal.
In September 2020, it set the record for the largest vessel ever to enter the port of New York & New Jersey and to dock on the U.S. East Coast. Here approaching the port of Charleston.
Today, 18% of the global ocean cargo is moved thanks to shipping containers, container vessels, and container ports or terminals. But how do containers ports work?
Container ports can be gigantic like the Shanghai container port through which over 40 000 000 TEUs* pass each year or small local single quays possibly relying on the gears (cranes) of the arriving vessel for the loading operations. They can be fully automated – calling upon automated cranes, handling and repositioning equipment – or can rely on a qualified workforce operating specialized equipment and cranes.
When working with ocean freight and maritime transport, it is important to know and understand the difference between Liner and Tramp. These terms are used to designate a type of ocean transport service and can also be used to designate how a vessel is currently operating.
Based on the publicly available UNCTAD data, the world merchant fleet was composed of over 95,000 vessels in 2020. The total deadweight* of this gigantic fleet was over 2,000,000 thousand tons – meaning that in 2020 the merchant fleet had the capacity to carry (all in : crew, cargo, fuel, ballast,….) over 2,000,000,000 tons at any one point in time.
A gantry is a bridge-like structure, with side supports, enabling it to span, to be, over something. A gantry crane is exactly that: a crane, which thanks to its supporting side and cross beams, can straddle, be placed above cargo, and approach it from this position.
