Liner reliability recedes in December

   Liners carriers saw their on-time performance decline month-on-month for the third straight month in December, according to SeaIntel Maritime Analysis.
   Reliability fell from 63 percent in November to 59 percent in December.
   For the top 20 container lines, Maersk Line maintained its spot as the most reliable carrier, at 74 percent, followed by Hamburg Süd, at 70 percent, and MOL, at 67 percent.
   SeaIntel measures reliability as arrival on the same calendar day or the day before. The measurements are based on SeaIntel’s database of more than 42.000 arrivals since July 2011, with 8,000 arrivals measured by the hour.
   Among individual trades, only the trade between North and South America and the westbound trade from Asia to the Mediterranean saw improvements in schedule reliability in December. All others saw declines.
   On the eastbound transpacific, Hanjin was the most reliable carriers, at 81 percent, with Maersk No. 2 at 79 percent.
   From November, SeaIntel initiated measurement of carrier reliability by the hour for carriers providing schedules and actual arrivals at that level of detail. Seven carriers currently provide those details, including Maersk, Hanjin Shipping, OOCL, NYK, Hamburg Süd, Yang Ming, and Wan Hai.
   By the hourly measurement Maersk’s December reliability was 87 percent on time within plus or minus 24 hours, and Hamburg Süd’s was 81 percent on time.
   Wan Hai was the only carrier to have improved in December, going from 62 percent in November to 68 percent in December.