Container line schedule reliability improved in March, bucking a six consecutive month of decline, according to Sea-Intelligence.

The maritime analyst noted that global container line schedule reliability saw a 5.8 percentage point month-on-month improvement in March, reaching 40.4%.

"It seems as if the worst has passed, with carriers recording a ... M/M improvement in global schedule reliability in March 2021 ... That said, there is a long way to go to reach the levels of the previous years, as this was still the lowest schedule reliability for April in the 10 years that we have measured schedule reliability, with the gap to 2020 a sharp -29.9 percentage points," said Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence. 

The schedule reliability report covers 34 different trade lanes and more than 60 carriers, and it noted that for the past six months the index has been hovering at its lowest level across all months since the benchmark was introduced in 2011. 

The average delay for late vessel arrivals also reversed its deteriorating trend, with the March 2021 figure 0.79 days lower M/M, albeit being higher by 1.42 days Y/Y, and still the highest for any March at 6.16 days.

It said the average delay in 2021-Q1 was higher than the extraordinary high delays caused by the 2015-Q1 US West Coast labour dispute and has also been the highest for each month in all months since April 2020.

Maersk most reliable liner in March 2021

Meanwhile, the maritime analyst named Maersk Line as the most reliable top-14 carrier in March 2021, with schedule reliability of 48.7%, followed by Hamburg Süd with 45.9%.

 Sea-Intelligence noted that only one other carrier, Wan Hai, had schedule reliability higher than 40%. The remaining carriers were within 30%-40%, apart from Evergreen at 29.6%.

"All carriers recorded a M/M improvement in schedule reliability, while none recorded a Y/Y improvement in March 2021," said Murphy.

"Wan Hai recorded the largest M/M improvement of 17.6 percentage points while HMM recorded the largest Y/Y decline of a staggering -45.4 percentage points," he added.