Container service reliability reached a data-series high in April, 2015 with the aggregate on-time performance for the three key East-West trades rising to 67.6%, up by 4.1% on March, according to Drewry supply chain advisors’ Carrier Performance Insight.
PTI previously reported that Maersk Line was leading with the best on-time carrier performance, with service reliability reaching around 81% for the world’s largest container line.
This has since increased in the April period to around 85%, followed by OOCL (77%); MOL and NYK (both 74%).
The previous best since Drewry’s new data series started in May 2014 was achieved in October after which the industry struggled to cope with heavy port congestion on the US West Coast (USWC) and the implementation of new alliance partnerships and services.
As a result of ‘normal’ operations on the USWC, trans-pacific trade saw the biggest improvement in April, 2015 with on-time reliability rising by 15.1 percentage points to 54%.
However, trans-pacific reliability remains around 20 points down on the series peaks of June and July 2014.
Simon Heaney, Senior Manager of Supply Chain Research at Drewry, said: “Drewry expected the upturn in reliability following the end of the exceptional circumstances. We expect further improvements in the next few months, but as on-time performances are approaching the historical ceilings, they might only be marginal.”