Hapag-Lloyd signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Zim’s shares in a deal worth $4.2 billion, cementing the carrier’s status as the world’s fifth largest container shipping line, according to a Monday press release.
Hapag-Lloyd’s new fleet will have more than 400 vessels, creating a capacity of over 3 million twenty-foot equivalent container units as well as an annual cargo volume of more than 18 million TEU in 2027, according to the release. As of September 2025, Hapag-Lloyd operates a fleet of 205 container ships with a total capacity of about 2.5 million TEUs. The ocean liner also owns or leases a container stock of about 3.8 million TEUs.
The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in late 2026.
“The combined business would strengthen the network on all major global trades and consolidate their leadership in key growth markets,” per the release, including on the Transpacific, Intra-Asia, Transatlantic, Latin America and East Mediterranean trade lanes.
Hapag-Lloyd will take over Zim’s leased vessels, which equates to about 87% of Zim’s current capacity, according to a LinkedIn post from Vespucci Maritime CEO Lars Jensen, citing Alphaliner data. The takeover of chartered vessels is another key element of the deal, Jensen added. Currently, 39% of Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet is chartered, but the acquisition will bring this percentage up to 52% in the combined fleet.
“This will increase Hapag-Lloyd’s global market share from 7.0% to 8.8%,” Jensen said. “At a new global capacity of 3 Million TEU, they will remain the world’s 5th largest container line, but now with a much wider margin to number 6.
Zim is currently the 10th largest container line and has a global capacity of more than 704,000 TEUs, per Alphaliner data.
Jensen expects the acquisition to be positive for Gemini, the ocean alliance formed between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, leading to "a negative competitive impact” on Mediterranean Shipping Co., the largest global ocean carrier. MSC and Zim presently have vessel sharing agreements in place on six Transpacific services, but current Zim volumes would move onto the Gemini network as part of the Hapag-Lloyd acquisition, according to Jensen.
The Zim brand won’t completely disappear, however. The name will transfer to a new ocean liner focused on shipments to Israel.
The new company will be a subsidiary of Israel-based private equity fund Fimi Opportunity Funds, which will take over parts of the business that are of “strategic interest to Israel,” according to Jensen’s post.
The container line, which will operate a fleet of 16 ships, will enable Israel to retain some ownership of an ocean liner that can connect to Hapag-Lloyd’s global network, per the release.
We will create a stable Israeli company, the new ZIM, and view Hapag-Lloyd as a significant strategic partner for its on-going operations,” Ishay Davidi, founder and CEO of the Fimi, said in a statement. “New ZIM will integrate significant transatlantic capabilities, alongside additional shipping routes to Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea.”
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