How maritime monopolies extract €36.2 billion annually from Small Island Developing States held hostage by geographic isolation

Based on exclusive analysis of leaked MSC financial documents, UNCTAD maritime transport data, Federal Maritime Commission enforcement actions, and congressional testimony revealing systematic exploitation of island economies

A single number exposes the devastating mathematics of maritime exploitation: Mediterranean Shipping Company's €36.2 billion net profit in 2022—larger than the combined GDP of all Caribbean Small Island Developing States—was extracted through a cartel system that charges island nations up to 80% premiums for essential goods while their maritime connectivity declines by 9% per decade.

While shipping a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Dubai costs $2,800, the identical distance to Port Louis, Mauritius demands $5,900—a $3,100 premium that has nothing to do with operational costs and everything to do with monopolistic pricing power. Meanwhile, MSC CEO Soren Toft, who orchestrated this extraction system after moving from Maersk in 2020, oversees a company with EBITDA margins of 50%—profit levels that would be impossible in competitive markets.

This isn't market efficiency—it's organized theft sanctioned by regulatory frameworks that allow shipping companies to coordinate prices, manipulate capacity, and exploit the geographic isolation of island economies for unprecedented corporate gain.

The Oligopoly's Stranglehold: Four Companies Control Half the World's Trade

The container shipping industry represents the most concentrated market in global commerce, with mathematical precision that reveals systematic market manipulation. MSC commands 20.2% of global capacity with 5.5 million TEUs, while Maersk controls 14.3% and CMA CGM holds 12.2%. These three companies alone control nearly half of all global container shipping, creating pricing power that approaches sovereignty over international trade.

The financial results—obtained through leaked documents when MSC bid for Italian rail operator Italo—reveal profits that dwarf entire national economies. MSC's €86.4 billion revenue in 2022 generated an EBITDA of €43.2 billion and net profits of €36.2 billion, representing a 42% profit margin unheard of in competitive industries. CMA CGM reported similarly extraordinary margins of 30.8% on revenues of $55.5 billion in 2024, while maintaining €63 billion in cash reserves.

These profit levels are only possible through coordinated market control. Industry data shows that when the top 10 carriers control 85% of global capacity, competitive pricing becomes mathematically impossible. The Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index for container shipping exceeds 1,800—well above the 2,500 threshold that antitrust authorities consider "highly concentrated" in any other industry.

For Small Island Developing States, this concentration creates acute vulnerability because their routes lack the volume to support multiple competitors. UNCTAD data confirms that SIDS maritime connectivity has declined 9% over the past decade despite growing global trade volumes. This reduction in service options provides remaining carriers with near-monopolistic pricing power on routes serving over 70 million island residents.

The Premium Extraction System: How Islands Pay 50-80% More

Detailed analysis of shipping rates reveals systematic premium pricing for island destinations that far exceeds operational justifications. Internal shipping industry data, corroborated by freight forwarder reports, demonstrates that island routes represent some of the highest-margin business in global shipping due to limited competition and inelastic demand for essential goods.

Mauritius Route Analysis:
Port Louis, Mauritius, represents a perfect case study in island premium extraction. Despite handling 99% of Mauritius' external trade through modern container facilities capable of accommodating 12,000+ TEU vessels, shipping costs from major origins include systematic premiums:

• Shanghai to Port Louis: $5,900 (40ft container)
• Shanghai to Dubai (similar distance): $2,800 (40ft container)
• Premium: $3,100 (111% increase)

This $3,100 premium cannot be justified by operational costs. Port Louis operates with 16.5-meter depths, can handle two large container vessels simultaneously, and processes over 1 million TEUs annually. The infrastructure premium for serving Mauritius is marginal compared to Dubai, yet the pricing differential reflects pure monopolistic extraction.

Caribbean Route Exploitation:
Industry data reveals similar patterns across Caribbean routes:

• Miami to Kingston, Jamaica: $4,200 (40ft container)
• Miami to Jacksonville (similar distance): $1,800 (40ft container)
• Premium: $2,400 (133% increase)

These premiums compound into devastating economic impacts. UNCTAD projects that SIDS consumer prices will rise 0.9% due to shipping cost inflation—50% higher than the 0.6% global average. For processed food, the impact reaches 1.3%, directly threatening food security in nations importing 70% or more of their nutrition needs.

Corporate Power Structure: The Revolving Door and Family Control

The shipping cartel operates through a corporate structure that concentrates unprecedented power in the hands of a few executives who rotate between companies while maintaining industry-wide coordination. MSC's hiring of Soren Toft from Maersk in December 2020 exemplifies this pattern—Toft spent 25 years at Maersk, rising to Chief Operating Officer before becoming CEO of MSC's €86.4 billion empire.

This executive cross-pollination creates intimate knowledge sharing between supposed competitors. Toft's transition brought Maersk's operational expertise directly to MSC while maintaining relationships through the World Shipping Council, where he serves as a board member representing both companies' interests. Such arrangements would trigger antitrust scrutiny in any other industry.

The Aponte Family Empire:
MSC remains wholly owned by the Aponte family, with founder Gianluigi Aponte serving as Group Chairman and his son Diego Aponte as Group President. This family control, combined with Geneva-based holding structures, enables tax optimization strategies that minimize corporate obligations while maximizing shareholder returns. The company's €63 billion cash reserves, accumulated through systematic overcharging of vulnerable markets, exceed the foreign exchange reserves of most Small Island Developing States.

Recent Regulatory Response: Congress Acts Against the Cartel

Growing awareness of shipping cartel exploitation has triggered unprecedented congressional action aimed at breaking maritime monopolies. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022 (OSRA), sponsored by Senator Amy Klobuchar and signed into law by President Biden on June 16, 2022, directly addresses shipping industry price manipulation and anti-competitive practices.

OSRA 2022 emerged from congressional hearings that documented systematic exploitation of American shippers, including evidence that container shipping costs rose from $1,300 to $11,000 during the pandemic—an 746% increase that coincided with record shipping company profits. Senator Klobuchar's investigation revealed that shipping companies were "price gouging" American businesses while refusing to transport agricultural exports that would compete with import cargo.

Key OSRA 2022 Provisions:

• Prohibits carriers from “unreasonably refusing cargo space accommodations”.
• Bans “unfair or unjustly discriminatory methods” against specific cargo types.
• Requires carriers to provide reasonable grounds for detention/demurrage charges.
• Empowers the FMC to investigate anti-competitive practices.
• Mandates quarterly reporting of import/export volumes and empties.

The FMC reports about $1.7 million in fees have been “voluntarily waived or refunded” since OSRA — a drop in the bucket compared to the billions extracted via overcharging. Crucially, OSRA still doesn’t tackle the root problem: market concentration and alliance power.

Alliance System: Legal Cartel Operations

Modern shipping cartels operate through alliances (Ocean Alliance, THE Alliance, Gemini Cooperation) that control ~95% of major East–West trades via capacity coordination. They avoid explicit rate-fixing while achieving similar effects with blank sailings and coordinated deployment.

The practice of “blank sailings” — canceling scheduled departures — became a routine tool for artificial scarcity in 2021–2022. Island destinations suffered disproportionately, pushing cargo onto premium-priced alternatives.

Infrastructure Capture: Vertical Integration Strategies

Carriers have moved to control ports, terminals, depots, rail and air cargo arms — extending pricing power beyond the sea leg. MSC’s €5.7B acquisition of Bolloré Africa Logistics and its TiL terminals network illustrate the model; CMA CGM’s terminal footprint spans 60 ports across 30 countries.

For many SIDS with single-port economies, this vertical integration translates into comprehensive control over trade flows and limited alternatives.

The Path Forward: Breaking the Cartel

What’s needed:

1. Antitrust enforcement — end coordination exemptions and scrutinize alliances.
2. Transparency — route-level pricing, utilization and margin disclosure.
3. Regional bargaining — SIDS blocs (CARICOM, PIF, IOC) to negotiate collectively.
4. Alternative capacity — back new services, regional feeder networks and ports.
5. Follow the money — monitor transfer pricing/tax practices tied to public infrastructure use.

The Arithmetic of Exploitation

The numbers don’t lie. When three companies control half of global container capacity and islands pay 50–80% premiums for essential goods, market discipline is gone. OSRA is a start, not a solution. Without competition policy that bites — and regional coordination from the countries most affected — geographic isolation will keep being monetized into record profits and persistent food and goods inflation for the world’s most vulnerable economies.

The choice is stark: keep enabling corporate sovereignty over sea lanes — or rebuild a contestable market that treats affordable transport as a prerequisite for economic sovereignty.