Container line schedule reliability dropped to its lowest ever recorded last year, while also recording a "staggering" drop from levels seen before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a new report, Sea-Intelligence said schedule reliability dropped from 78% in 2019 to 63.9% in 2020, and then to 35.8% in 2021, "which is not only the lowest recorded FY schedule reliability but is also quite a staggering drop from the pre‑2020 levels."

It said the average delay for late vessel arrivals has also been on an upwards trend since the lowest recorded delay of 3.19 days in 2016.

"In 2021, the figure nearly touched the 7‑day mark, reaching 6.86 days. The average delay for all vessel arrivals recorded a sharp increase in 2020, and an even sharper increase in 2021, with the 2021 figure crossing the 4‑day mark for the first time," it added.

Maersk most reliable liner in 2021

The maritime analyst said in its report that Maersk remained as the most reliable top‑14 carrier in 2021 with schedule reliability of 46.4%, followed by Hamburg Süd (40.9%).

Four carriers recorded schedule reliability of 30%‑40%, and seven carriers recorded schedule reliability of 20%‑30%.

Sea-Intelligence noted that only Evergreen recorded schedule reliability of under 20%, while none of the top‑14 carriers recorded a year-on-year improvement in reliability.

The report said Streamlines (98.8%), Geest Line (98.6%), and ICL (98.0%) were the most reliable niche carriers in 2021, while ARRC (9.9%) was the least reliable. Only 11 niche carriers recorded a year-on-year improvement in schedule reliability.

"2M (33.6%) was the most reliable carrier alliance in 2021, followed by THE Alliance (15.5%), and Ocean Alliance (8.2%)," Alan Murphy, CEO, Sea-Intelligence added, noting that all three carrier alliances recorded substantial year/year declines in schedule reliability.

"Compared to the industry average, only 2M scored better than the industry, by 3.5 percentage points, whereas Ocean Alliance recorded a substantial drop of ‑15.3 percentage points. In 3 of the 4 quarters of 2021, 2M performed better than the industry," he further said.

All major lanes saw drop in reliability

Meanwhile, Sea-Intelligence said all six major East/West trade lanes recorded double-digit year/year declines in schedule reliability, with the Asia‑Europe and Asia-North America West Coast trade lanes recording year/year declines of over 40 percentage points.

"Apart from the Transatlantic Eastbound trade lane, none of the other trade lanes recorded a better reliability score in 2021 than the industry average, with both Transpacific trade lanes, and Asia-North Europe recording double-digit declines," the report added.

In terms of the delays, all six trade lanes follow the same general trend.

Sea-Intelligence said in 2021, Asia-North America West Coast recorded the largest increase in the average delay for LATE vessels, crossing the 12-day mark, while Asia-North Europe was not far behind, having crossed the 8-day mark.