PRESS ROOM

The international media carries reports based on Sea-Intelligence information that indicates that container line schedule reliability decreased by 1.2 percentage points month-on-month to 51.4 per cent in September.

That made interesting reading for the U-Freight Group with our large portfolio of ocean freight forwarding and logistics services.

The comprehensive investigation looked into reliability in 34 trade channels and over 60 carriers and leads Sea-Intelligence CEO, Alan Murphy, to say that schedule reliability in 2024 has remained between 50 per cent and 55 per cent, with a little decreasing trend from the May peak, adding that the minimal fluctuation in schedule reliability in 2024 provides shippers with a fair notion of what to anticipate month on month.

The report's data showed that the average delay for late vessel arrivals rose by 0.21 days each month to 5.67 days. This is the third-highest figure for the month, only eclipsed by pandemic highs in 2021-2022.

Maersk was the most reliable top 13 carrier in September 2024, with a schedule reliability of 55.5 per cent, while CMA CGM came in second with a schedule reliability of 50.9 per cent, one of just two carriers to exceed 50 per cent.

The remaining 11 carriers were all within the 40 per cent - 50 per cent range. Wan Hai had the lowest schedule reliability (40.4 per cent).

Sea-Intelligence reports that on a year-on-year level, none of the top 13 carriers saw an improvement in schedule reliability, with MSC and Wan Hai recording the largest decline of 21.5 percentage points each.

In October, Sea-Intelligence revealed that vessel bunching increased considerably at ports and terminals following the pandemic, partially due to the Red Sea crisis.

UFL's ocean freight teams around the world remain committed to helping clients manage the difficult situation facing container shipping at present and mitigate where possible additional costs incurred. Those teams will endeavour to keep in close contact with all clients to provide updates on specific movements.

For more information about our ocean freight forwarding and logistics services, please visit the relevant pages of this website, or contact your local office, which can be seen here: https://www.ufreight.com/en/location