Sea-Intelligence analysis showed that the combined 2010-2020 operating profit across all years was a combined figure of $37.54 billion, CEO Alan Murphy said.

In short, the industry has tripled its operating profit in 2021-financial year compared to the past decade, he added.

"Just by looking at the chart we can see the absurd nature of the supply/demand situation and the freight rate environment of 2021, dwarfing each of the previous years in terms of EBIT/TEU," Mr Murphy said.

"The previous years are hardly relevant in context of the outsized EBIT/TEU numbers what we are seeing right now."

In the 2021 financial year, the smallest EBIT/TEU was recorded by Maersk of $686/TEU, whereas the largest EBIT/TEU was recorded by ZIM, of a staggering $1,671/TEU. On average, the six charted shipping lines netted an operating profit of $861/TEU.

In the entire last decade, the highest average EBIT/TEU of these global shipping lines was $155/TEU in 2010.

The EBIT for container carriers hit the major sum without taking into account HMM and OOCL's figures, which will add an additional $10-$15 billion to final figures.

The figures also discount privately held MSC, and PIL due to irregular updates. Earlier this month Hapag-Lloyd announced it had made $26.4 billion in revenue in 2021.