Maersk has almost 700 ships in its fleet

The Singapore-flagged container ship Dali was hired by Danish shipping company Maersk, which told CNN that the ship was involved in an early-morning collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday.

According to Xeneta shipping market analyst Emily Stausbøll, the Dali was part of an agreement between Maersk and MSC and was carrying 10,000 20-foot shipping containers on a voyage between Baltimore and Asia.

One of the biggest container shipping corporations in the world, Maersk transports goods on more than 700 boats worldwide, ranging from electronics and heavy machinery to clothing and auto components.

According to its website, the carrier calls on over 500 ports in over 130 countries and services over 100,000 enterprises. Each year, it transports around 12 million containers.

Some container shipping companies, including Maersk, have halted operations via the Red Sea and Suez Canal due to continuous attacks on vessels, including its own, by Houthi rebels backed by Iran.

Riding high on increased shipping costs and robust demand for goods, especially in the first half of the year, it generated record yearly earnings in 2022.

However, it let go of 10,000 employees last year as a result of a dramatic decline in revenues due to a decline in both demand and freight prices.