It was first and foremost the growth rates noted by the two major European competitors CMA CGM and MSC that made Maersk Line raise the target bar for how big a share of the global container market should belong to the Danish carrier.

The material distributed at the Maersk Group Capital Markets Day on Wednesday in Copenhagen clearly illustrates how Maersk Line's global market share has in fact decreased slowly and steadily from around 18 percent ten years ago to 16 percent today. Maersk Line's market share stood at 13.2 percent in 2002.