They made history: MSC last week became the first in the world to surpass the 1,000 ship mark!

While we were watching the historic changes in the leadership of the Aponte family last week, the maritime world was hit by another breaking news that confirms the absolute dominance of this brand. The MSC Group (Mediterranean Shipping Company) has recently become the first shipping company in history, whose fleet of cargo ships has exceeded the magical number of 1,000 vessels. This success only underscores the strength of the background that also supports our favorite cruise travels.

April 2026: Month of Records

It all started on Monday, April 13, when the founder and visionary captain Gianluigi Aponte officially announced the transfer of ownership shares to his children – the president of the group Diego Aponte and the CFO Alexa Aponte.

And just two days later, on Wednesday, April 15, news arrived from the shipyard that the maritime world had been waiting for. With the acquisition of the new vessel MSC Migsan MSC became the first shipping company in history whose fleet consists of an incredible 1,000 container ships. Achieving a capacity of 1,000 ships was considered a goal in the distant future. However, MSC has reached it right now thanks to massive investments in recent years.

From one ship to a thousand-strong empire

The story of MSC's cargo division resembles a legend. When in 1970 captain Gianluigi Aponte founded his company, he had only one old vessel named Patricia. Today, 56 years later, MSC is the largest shipping company on the planet.

To give you a better idea: if you lined up all one thousand MSC ships closely behind each other, they would create an uninterrupted line approximately 350 kilometers long. That's the distance from Prague to Žilina in Slovakia or Linz in Austria and back. It is the force that ensures everything from electronics to coffee reaches you in Europe, while also providing a stable background for our cruises.

But that's not all! If we took all 6 million containers, which this fleet can hold at once, and lined them up:

• They would create a chain approximately 36,500 kilometers long.

• This means that the cargo from MSC ships would in a continuous line almost perfectly wrap around the entire globe at the equator (which measures 40,075 km).

It would be just a few thousand kilometers short, which at the current pace at which the Aponte family is buying new ships, MSC will likely catch up even before the end of this year!

Why is this important for us cruise lovers?

You might be wondering how a giant container ship relates to your vacation in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean. It does – and very closely!

“The enormous financial stability of MSC's cargo division allows the Aponte family to invest billions of euros in developing the most beautiful and eco-friendly cruise ships in the world, such as our favorite MSC World Europa,” explains Pavel Číž from Riviera Tour.

Modern giants that save nature

The new generation of ships that are currently joining the fleet to make it a round thousand are at the technological forefront:

• Capacity: The largest ships of the Celestino Esposito class can carry over 24,000 containers.

• Ecology: Just like cruise ships, the cargo division is massively transitioning to LNG (liquefied natural gas) and testing biofuels to reduce its carbon footprint.

In conclusion

Next time you see a typical yellow ship with a black inscription MSC, remember that it is a "sibling" of your ship. You belong to a family that is currently dominating the world's oceans like no one else in history.

Your Riviera Tour team

Your guide to the world of MSC

Sources: Alphaliner Shipping Index (update April 2026), MSC Corporate Report, Reuters Business.