Global shipping schedule reliability decelerated further in July—although in line with levels seen at the start of the year—as Red Sea disruptions continued to affect the world's container shipping industry. 

According to a new analysis by Sea-Intelligence, global schedule reliability dropped by -2.1 percentage points month-on-month (M/M) to 52.1%.

On a year-on-year (Y/Y) level, schedule reliability in July 2024 was down -12.0 percentage points compared to the same period in 2023.

Global shipping schedule reliability was at 54.4% in June.

"Schedule reliability in July is almost at the same level as it was at the start of the year and is keeping in line with the trends seen so far in 2024, with reliability largely within 50%-55%," the Danish maritime consultancy company said.

Meanwhile, Sea-Intelligence said in the report that the average delay for late vessel arrivals improved, albeit marginally, decreasing by -0.02 days M/M to 5.24 days.

This figure was only surpassed by the pandemic highs of 2021-2022.

On a Y/Y level, the Danish maritime consultancy company said the July 2024 figure was 0.63 days higher. 

For July, Maersk was the most reliable top-13 carrier, with schedule reliability of 54.6%. Three other carriers were above the 50% mark, and the remaining nine carriers were all in the 40%- 50% range.

Sea-Intelligence said Wan Hai was the least reliable carrier, with a reliability of 41.3%.

"Only ZIM and MSC were able to record an M/M improvement in schedule reliability in July 2024, while Wan Hai recorded the largest and only double-digit decline of -11.6 percentage points," commented Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence.

"On a Y/Y level, none of the carriers recorded an increase in schedule reliability, with Yang Ming recording the smallest decline of -5.2 percentage points and Wan Hai recording the largest Y/Y decline of -27.4 percentage points," he added.