SIMIC

FOR the sixth consecutive month, container shipping schedule reliability has been above 60 per cent nearing levels not seen since 2020 - and the Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) is in first place, reports Fort Lauderdale's Maritime Executive.

MSC despite being the largest carrier with 780 vessels according to Alphaliners' rankings, jumped on Sea-Intelligence's schedule reliability charts from the middle of the pack in 2022 to lead the sector in 2023.



This is a far cry from the day of MSC's earlier reputation for reliable unreliability when "MSC" was jokingly said to stand for "Maybe She Come".



After a low when only one-in-three ships were on schedule, the sector has rebounded although it plateaued with an average of just under 64 per cent monthly schedule reliability since February 2023.



"Schedule reliability remained unchanged month-to-month in July 2023 at 64.2 per cent, maintaining the slightly lower level than the peak reached in May 2023," said Alan Murphy, CEO of analytics firm Sea-Intelligence.



"On a year-over-year level, however, schedule reliability in July 2023 is still 23.8 percentage points higher."



Sea-Intelligence analyses schedule reliability across 34 different trade lanes and more than 60 carriers, reporting in its monthly update that the industry has remained above 60 per cent every month since February 2023. While it is still below the 75 per cent reported three years ago in July, it has significantly improved from 35.5 per cent in July 2021 and 40.3 per cent in July 2022.



The declines in volumes which helped ports to clear their backlogs have contributed to the improvements in schedule reliability for container carriers. In addition, they continue to blank sailings and combine routes which has helped to reduce the number of vessels, yet much of the recovery comes from improvements in operations.