MEDITERRANEAN Shipping Co chief executive Soren Toft confirmed that his company would deploy 12 vessels under the Indian flag, following a meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi during India Maritime Week in Mumbai.

He said the move would strengthen “our long-term partnership and support for India’s maritime ambitions”.

“India is a key country for MSC, with continued strong development across shipping, ports and logistics,” Toft wrote on social media platform LinkedIn.

Speaking at India Maritime Week in Mumbai last week, Modi called shipbuilding one of India’s top priorities. Earlier this year his cabinet unveiled an $8bn plan to fund initiatives that will accelerate India’s shipbuilding ambitions, as the country seeks to increase its dominance in the shipping sector.

At the same time, data from Alphaliner shows that MSC has tipped the 7m teu mark in terms of capacity this week. This latest milestone means the carrier now has a more than 20% share of container capacity. Its closest rival, Maersk, has a capacity of 4.6m teu.

French line CMA CGM has also announced a significant flagging update, with 10 of its new vessels set to fly under the French flag.

The vessels are all dual-fuel LNG powered and have a capacity of 24,212 teu.

Chief executive officer Rodolphe Saadé said the decision reflected “our confidence in France’s maritime sector and its people, with the recruitment of 135 French seafarers and a strengthened partnership with the French Maritime Academy (ENSM)”.

“These vessels will serve two major French ports, Le Havre and Dunkirk, on the Asia-northern Europe route, reinforcing our presence in France at a time when the sea plays an increasingly strategic role in global economic and geopolitical dynamics,” he said.