A Sea-Intelligence study of deep-sea liner networks from 2012 to 2026 shows a clear reduction in the extent to which global container carriers share vessels and routes with competitors.

Its findings track both the number of active physical services and the average number of carriers marketing each service during the period.

Before 2017, vessel-sharing agreements played a central role in helping shipping lines maintain worldwide market coverage. Under these arrangements, several carriers could offer the same physical service under separate product names.

Customers therefore encountered different branded options even though their cargo was transported aboard the same ships on the same underlying service.

Over the period covered by the study, the physical deep-sea network became larger. Active services rose from slightly more than 250 in 2012–2013 to almost 380 by late 2026.

Sea-Intelligence found, however, that the number of carriers participating in each service followed the opposite course.

During the 2014–2016 peak, each physical service was marketed by more than 4.12 carriers on average. This level reflected the broad use of shared arrangements at the time.

By August 2026, average participation had fallen to 2.65 carriers per service, indicating that fewer shipping lines were selling space on each underlying route.

From 2021, the figures began to show a further change in network structure. The number of independently operated services more than doubled, reaching 127 by August 2026.

In parallel, services shared by at least three carriers declined to 159, after remaining above 200 for approximately a decade.

Developments during the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated this move towards independent operations.

Record earnings gave several carriers the funds to increase the size of their fleets and introduce services of their own. The change added to the rise in independently operated routes recorded by Sea-Intelligence from 2021 onwards.

The new alliance structure also reflects this direction. MSC is among the carriers operating independently, while Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have created the more integrated Gemini Cooperation.

These arrangements sit alongside the wider decline in the average number of carriers offering each physical deep-sea service.

Sea-Intelligence concludes that customers now have a greater number of genuinely different route choices. Rather than multiple brands marketing the same shared operation, competition is increasingly focused on carriers’ own operational networks.

The study therefore presents an expanded deep-sea service network alongside a sustained reduction in carrier participation per service.