The MSC Irina and her five sisters, at 24,346 TEU each, are still the largest container ships afloat; the ten biggest designs are separated by fewer than 500 TEU.
The largest container ships in the world are the six ships of the MSC Irina class, rated at 24,346 TEU each and delivered in 2023. CMA CGM Notre Dame (24,212 TEU, delivered 2026) is second and the OOCL Spain class (24,188 TEU) third. Ships are ranked by nominal TEU capacity as stated by owners and builders, as of October 2026, with identical sister ships grouped as one entry.
Container ships are rated by how many twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) they can carry, and the biggest ones have been stuck near 24,000 TEU since 2022. Nearly every ship on this list is about 400 metres long and 61 to 62 metres wide, so each new record comes from squeezing in a few dozen or a few hundred more boxes. Many of these ships are built in series of identical sisters with exactly the same rated capacity. Rather than fill the list with six copies of one ship, each entry here is one design, named after its lead ship, with its sister ships noted.
MSC Irina was delivered from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding in March 2023 at 24,346 TEU, taking the record from OOCL Spain a month after that ship's debut. Five identical sisters followed in 2023: MSC Loreto, MSC Michel Cappellini, MSC Mariella, MSC Micol and MSC Türkiye.
Delivered in May 2026, CMA CGM Notre Dame carries up to 24,212 TEU and runs on LNG. It is the largest container ship under the French flag and the first of a series of ten; sister ship CMA CGM Pantheon followed later in 2026.
OOCL Spain was named in February 2023 at Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering as OOCL's first ship above 24,000 TEU, rated at 24,188 TEU. Sisters at the same capacity include OOCL Piraeus, OOCL Felixstowe, OOCL Zeebrugge and OOCL Gdynia.
OOCL Wisdom was named at NACKS in May 2026 with a maximum capacity of 24,168 TEU. OOCL calls it the world's largest methanol dual-fuel container ship; it is the first of a series of seven.
ONE Innovation was delivered at Japan Marine United's Kure shipyard on 2 June 2023, the first of six 24,136 TEU Megamax ships for Ocean Network Express. In September 2025 it set the record for the most cargo loaded on one ship, 22,233 TEU.
MSC Tessa was handed over by Hudong-Zhonghua in Shanghai in March 2023, rated at 24,116 TEU, on the same day MSC Irina was delivered. Sisters at the same capacity include MSC Celestino Maresca, MSC Gemma, MSC Mette and MSC China.
Ever Alot, delivered by Hudong-Zhonghua in June 2022, was the first container ship rated above 24,000 TEU, at 24,004 TEU. It and its Chinese-built sisters carry 12 TEU more than Evergreen's Korean-built A-class ships.
Ever Ace, built by Samsung Heavy Industries and delivered in 2021, is rated at 23,992 TEU, 28 TEU more than HMM Algeciras, which made it the record holder at the time. It is the first of six Korean-built Evergreen A-class ships.
HMM Algeciras was delivered by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering on 24 April 2020 at 23,964 TEU, then the largest container ship in the world. Samsung-built ships of the same HMM order are rated lower, at 23,820 TEU.
CMA CGM Seine was delivered by Hudong-Zhonghua in April 2025 with 23,876 TEU, about 764 TEU more than the earlier Jacques Saade class. It runs on LNG and is the first of a four-ship series.
| # | Name | Operator | Ships at this capacity | First delivered | Builder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MSC Irina class | MSC | 6 | 2023 | Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu) |
| 2 | CMA CGM Notre Dame | CMA CGM | 2 (series of 10 planned) | 2026 | Chinese shipyard (Shanghai) |
| 3 | OOCL Spain class | OOCL | 6 or more | 2023 | Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) |
| 4 | OOCL Wisdom | OOCL | 1 delivered (series of 7) | 2026 | Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) |
| 5 | ONE Innovation class | Ocean Network Express (ONE) | 6 | 2023 | Japan Marine United / Imabari |
| 6 | MSC Tessa class | MSC | 8 | 2023 | Hudong-Zhonghua and Jiangnan (CSSC) |
| 7 | Ever Alot | Evergreen | several (Chinese-built A class) | 2022 | Hudong-Zhonghua (CSSC) |
| 8 | Ever Ace | Evergreen | 6 | 2021 | Samsung Heavy Industries |
| 9 | HMM Algeciras | HMM | DSME-built ships of the series | 2020 | Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering |
| 10 | CMA CGM Seine | CMA CGM | series of 4 | 2025 | Hudong-Zhonghua (CSSC) |
Ranked by nominal (maximum rated) TEU capacity as announced by the owner, operator or builder at delivery or naming, for ships delivered and in service as of 18 October 2026. Ships on order or launched but not delivered are excluded. Sister ships with an identical rated capacity are tied by definition, so they are grouped into one entry named after the lead (first-delivered) ship. Sisters of the same broad class built to a different rated capacity count as separate entries (for example, Evergreen's Chinese-built Ever Alot at 24,004 TEU and Korean-built Ever Ace at 23,992 TEU). Rank 1 is the highest capacity; no two entries tie. Nominal TEU is a design figure: the number of boxes actually loaded is lower because of weight and stability limits. The record for the most loaded on one voyage is ONE Innovation's 22,233 TEU in September 2025.
MSC Irina and her five identical sisters (MSC Loreto, MSC Michel Cappellini, MSC Mariella, MSC Micol and MSC Türkiye), each rated at 24,346 TEU. All six were delivered in 2023 and none has been surpassed as of October 2026.
Sister ships with exactly the same rated capacity tie by definition, so they are grouped into one entry named after the first one delivered. Ships from the same order built to a different rated capacity, such as Evergreen's 24,004 TEU and 23,992 TEU A-class ships, are listed separately.
No. At 24,212 TEU it is the largest LNG-powered container ship and the largest under the French flag, but the MSC Irina class is rated higher at 24,346 TEU.
One TEU is one 20-foot container; a 40-foot container counts as 2 TEU. Nominal capacity is the maximum number of slots, but weight and stability limits mean ships load fewer. The most ever loaded on one ship is 22,233 TEU, on ONE Innovation in September 2025.
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