26.04.03Sea-Intelligence: Major Container Lines Suffer 56.5% EBIT Decrease to $15.4 Bil.

Major global container shipping lines earned a combined EBIT of $15.4 billion in 2025, down 56.5% from the previous calendar year, according to a recent Sea-Intelligence report. Plunging nearly 60% from the $35.4 billion in 2024 and remaining a fraction of the 2021-2022 peaks, profitability continued to stay comfortably above pre-pandemic levels. Sea-Intelligence analyzes that “the data indicates that the industry has achieved a soft landing rather than a catastrophic crash.”

Despite the sharp downturn in total EBIT, all of the shipping lines managed to record positive figures. COSCO led the pack with EBIT of US$4.93 billion, followed by Evergreen Marine, US$2.36 billion; Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), US$1.54 billion; and Maersk, US$1.39 billion. Conversely, Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Yang Ming Marine Transport recorded the smallest operating profits of US$459 million and US$472 million, respectively.

For most shipping lines, EBIT per TEU was still stronger than pre‑pandemic levels, with all recorded higher values than any year they reported in 2010‑2019.