Shipping lines see container terminals as strategic assets

Port congestion in China has renewed the shipping industry’s focus on terminals as strategic assets rather than simple points of transfer.

Linerlytica reported that the 35th week of the year ended with longer waiting times for ships entering Ningbo and Shanghai. Typhoon Saudel left some vessels waiting more than 10 days for service. The fleet waiting at anchor had a capacity of 3.92 million tonnes, equal to 11.4% of global container ship capacity. Less than two weeks earlier, ships representing just under 7% of the world fleet’s capacity had been waiting offshore.

MSC Chief Executive Søren Toft described port congestion as a central problem for the container transport system. Adding more ships will not solve the problem, he argued, if ports cannot handle them efficiently. Hapag-Lloyd chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen said much of the congestion at major ports was “largely structural” and could remain for several years. Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc called for more investment in ports, railways, road transport and other land infrastructure as supply-chain bottlenecks increasingly shift inland.

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Largely structural

CMA CGM Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé said terminals were becoming “increasingly strategic assets” because they help maintain operational continuity, strengthen trade corridors and provide customers with more reliable services.

The investment is already substantial. APM Terminals, owned by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, owns eight selected hubs, including Rotterdam Maasvlakte II, Bremerhaven, Algeciras, Tangier, Port Said, Salalah and Tanjung Pelepas. It is expanding capacity at key transshipment hubs by 30%. APM Terminals and Vietnam’s Hateco are building the Lien Chieu container terminal in Da Nang, with a planned investment exceeding $1.7 billion and annual capacity of more than 5.7 million TEUs.

Maersk reported 55 terminals in the second quarter of 2026, including 29 consolidated entities. Its terminals division generated EBIT of $458 million, an EBIT margin of 31.6% and a return on invested capital of 14.8% over the preceding 12 months. MSC’s terminal company, Terminal Investment Limited, operates in more than 70 container terminals, including projects under development. In Hamburg, the city retains a 50.1% stake in HHLA and MSC holds 49.9%. The partners agreed to contribute €450 million for future investment, while MSC also committed to increasing throughput at HHLA terminals.

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Increasingly strategic assets