The data shows the leading container shipping companies worldwide as of August 30, 2018, based on the number of owned and chartered ships. There were 220 ships in Hapag-Lloyd's fleet in August 2018.
Leading container shipping companies worldwide based on number of ships Global seaborne trade was revolutionized in the 1950s, when the intermodal container was invented. Prior to the introduction of standard containers, cargo shipping used to be a lot more expensive, as well as time-consuming. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defined the capacity of intermodal containers, making the twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) a standard measure used in the transportation industry.
