SeaIntel: Global Schedule Reliability Drops in 2017

Global schedule reliability deteriorated to 74.5% in 2017, dropping by 8.4 points from 82.9% in 2016, ​SeaIntel Maritime Analysis said.

Taiwanese container carrier Wan Hai was the most reliable carrier in 2017, with schedule reliability of 81.0%. Hamburg Süd and Evergreen followed close behind with on-time performance of 79.7% and 79.1%, respectively.

SeaIntel said that none of the top 18 carriers improved on their 2016 schedule reliability scores.

Evergreen and HMM recorded the lowest decreases of 4.7 and 5.0 percentage points. On the other hand, MOL, PIL, and Yang Ming recorded the largest year-on-year declines at 12.7, 11.2, and 10.2 percentage points, respectively.

Looking at the major East/West trade lanes, Asia to North America West Coast saw a 9.3 percentage point drop in schedule reliability to 72.1% in 2017. Matson was the most reliable carrier on this trade lane with on-time performance of 93.3%, followed by Evergreen with 81.0%.

Asia to North America East Coast saw a significant drop in on-time performance, from 80.4% in 2016 to 66.3% in 2017. Evergreen was the most reliable carrier here in 2017, with schedule reliability of 72.3%, followed by Maersk Line and MSC with 70.5%.

Schedule reliability on Asia to North Europe and Asia to Mediterranean dropped by 3.0 and 9.3 percentage points, reaching 76.4% and 74.6%, respectively. Evergren was the most reliable carrier on Asia to North Europe with on-time performance of 82.6%, followed by COSCO with 82.5%.

On Asia to Mediterranean, Safmarine was the most reliable carrier with on-time performance of 95.5%, followed by Evergreen with 79.8%.

Both the Translatlantic trades saw drops in on-time performance of larger than 10.0 percentage points, with Transatlantic Westbound declining by 10.5 percentage points to 67.4%, and Transatlantic Eastbound decreasing by 10.6 percentage points to 70.2% in 2017.

Niche carriers ICL and Marfret had the highest schedule reliability on the Transatlantic Westbound and Eastbound trade lanes, recording on-time scores of 97.5% and 98.7%, according to SeaIntel.