Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) chief executive Soren Toft says that becoming the largest liner operator is not his company's main goal.

"Size isn't an objective for us," he said. "At MSC, we never set a specific target to be the biggest.

"Growth, profitability and supporting customers are what have driven us, and what will continue to drive us forward."

On Wednesday, the Swiss operator emerged as the world's largest shipping carrier in terms of container shipping capacity, taking over the top slot from Danish rival AP Moller-Maersk.

Statistics provided by Alphaliner list the Geneva-based carrier with a fleet of 645 container ships with a total capacity of 4,284,728 teu and a global market share of 17%.

Long-time number one Maersk is listed with 4,282,840 teu.

Toft explained in a note that growing such a big fleet was "a gradual and long-term process".

MSC had invested significantly in new and very efficient ultra-large vessels and acquired tonnage from the market "to meet the acceleration of global trade and specific client demand for our services".

"We will continue to introduce new services and solutions to support the customer and, consequently, remain competitive," Toft said.

MSC, founded by Gianluigi Aponte in 1970, attributes part of its success to an "agile, privately held structure" that has enabled it "to answer, or even anticipate, its customers' changing needs over the company’s 52-year history".

MSC introduced 11 new mainline services and adapted its existing network to respond to surging demand amid the global congestion triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company said it will continue to invest across the supply chain, including in vessels, containers, port terminals and land-based service networks, while seeking to improve schedule reliability.

MSC has been narrowing the gap to Maersk for many months after an unprecedented secondhand buying spree, finally slipping into top position with the delivery of the 4,992-teu Mexico (built 2002), which was until recently on charter to Maersk.

MSC bought the vessel from Israeli tonnage provider XT Shipping in June 2021 for $50.5m.

The Mexico arrived at Singapore anchorage on 30 December and was scheduled to leave on 6 January as MSC Mexico.