Global shipping schedule reliability improved in August— 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 was up 0.7 percentage month-on-month (M/M) to 52.8% from the 52.1% recorded in July. Global shipping schedule reliability was at 54.4% in June. 

Schedule reliability in 2024 has stabilised within the 50%-55% range.

"While disappointingly low, the minimal volatility this year does give shippers a relatively good idea of what to expect M/M,"  the Danish maritime consultancy company said.

On a Y/Y level, schedule reliability in August 2024 was -10.2 percentage points lower. 

Meanwhile, the average delay for late vessel arrivals increased by 0.03 days M/M to 5.28 days, which is only surpassed by the pandemic highs of 2021-2022.

On a Y/Y level, Sea-Intelligence said the August 2024 figure was 0.62 days higher. 

For August, the Danish maritime consultancy company said Maersk was the most reliable top-13 carrier with schedule reliability of 54.7%, followed by Hapag-Lloyd with 54.3%.

Another 8 carriers were above the 50% mark, with PIL the least reliable at 37.2%.

Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence, pointed out that in August, the schedule reliability difference between the most and least reliable carriers increased to 17.5 percentage points, the highest figure in all of 2024.