THE world's largest container line Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has taken its orderbook past the 2 million TEU mark, according to Alphaliner.

MSC has tapped one of its new favourite yards, Hengli Heavy Industry, formerly known as STX Dalian, for ten 24,000 TEU megamaxes in a deal estimated to cost somewhere in the region of US$2.35 billion.

MSC signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with Hengli Heavy earlier in the year under which the Swiss-headquartered line would use the yard for ship orders, engines, repair and conversion work.

In September, MSC ordered 10 LNG dual-fuel 21,000 TEU ships at the northern Chinese yard.

This latest series of 24,000 TEU ships will deliver from 2028 onwards and once confirmed would take MSC's orderbook to 2.13 million TEU, larger than the existing fleet of Ocean Network Express (ONE), the world's sixth largest liner.

It is not just newbuilds where the Soren Toft-led line has been highly active.

MSC has now surpassed 400 secondhand ship purchases since it embarked on a historical buying spree in August 2020.

MSC now commands a global liner market share in excess of 20 per cent, according to Singapore's Splash 147.