A.P. Moller-Maersk has moved closer to market leader MSC in the intra-North Europe container shipping market after posting the strongest growth in deployed capacity and market share over the past 12 months, according to sector specialist Alphaliner.

The Danish container line raised its market share to 16.2% from 13.5% a year earlier, while deployed capacity increased to 50,800 TEU from 39,800 TEU, Alphaliner said in an emailed report on Wednesday. That puts Maersk nearer the top of a trade that is highly fragmented, with shifts in service networks and feeder connections quickly affecting the ranking of carriers serving ports across northern Europe.

The growth was largely driven by Maersk’s Gemini hub-and-spoke strategy with Hapag-Lloyd, including the launch of two new Baltic feeder services linking Germany and Poland.

Despite Maersk’s expansion, MSC remained the largest operator in the trade, with a 21.2% market share, little changed from 21.3% a year earlier.

Overall intra-North Europe capacity rose 6.8% year-on-year as carriers deployed 243 ships, compared with 235 a year earlier. Alphaliner said the total reflected close to 20,000 TEU of added capacity, with the average ship size edging up to 1,294 TEU from 1,253 TEU.

Elsewhere, DP World remained the third-largest operator even though its market share declined. CMA CGM was the only major mainline carrier to post declines in both capacity and market share.

Among Asian carriers, Ocean Network Express (ONE) recorded the strongest growth, increasing capacity by 33.7% after launching its Iberia Baltic Express service.

"Overall, intra-North European service capacity grew by 6.8%, or close to 20,000 TEU, compared to July 2025, as carriers deployed 243 ships against 235 a year earlier, of a marginally larger average size (1,294 TEU versus 1,253 TEU)," Alphaliner said.