Mediterranean Shipping Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipping, air cargo, rail transport |
| Founded | 1970 Naples, Italy |
| Founder | Gianluigi Aponte |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Gianluigi Aponte (Group Chairman)
Diego Aponte (Group President) Soren Toft (CEO) |
| Services | Container shipping and logistics |
| Revenue | €86.4 billion (2022) |
| €36.2 billion (2022) | |
| Owner | Gianluigi Aponte |
Number of employees | 200,000+ (2025) |
| Website | www |
Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A., branded as MSC, is an international shipping line founded by Gianluigi Aponte in Italy in 1970. The company is owned by the Aponte family with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, since 1978. It is the world's largest container shipping company by both fleet size and cargo capacity, controlling 20% of global container capacity as of July 2024.
As of March 2025, MSC operates about 900 cargo vessels with an intake capacity of 5,505,417 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). MSC subsidiaries operate rail freight transport in Portugal and Spain, cruise ships, and cargo aircraft.
The company is independent and wholly owned by the Aponte family under the leadership of Diego Aponte. Diego was appointed president and CEO by his father and company founder Gianluigi in October 2014. In December 2020, Soren Toft became MSC Chief Executive Officer.