Global container shipping schedule reliability dropped to 56.4% in July, the lowest level recorded in 2026, as average vessel delays climbed to their highest point since January 2024.
Schedule reliability declined 6.1 percentage points from June, according to Sea-Intelligence’s latest Global Liner Performance report, which tracks 34 trade lanes and more than 60 container carriers. The July figure was also 8.8 percentage points below July 2025 and marked the weakest performance since February 2025. The average delay for late vessel arrivals rose to 6.06 days, up 0.59 days from June and 1.34 days from a year earlier.
Among the 13 largest carriers, Maersk posted the strongest reliability at 73.7%, the only carrier above 70%. Hapag-Lloyd followed at 69.3%, the sole carrier in the 60-70% range. Five carriers fell between 50% and 60%, while Wan Hai was least reliable at 29.8%. No carrier improved month-over-month or year-over-year; MSC saw the steepest monthly drop (11.9 points), and Wan Hai the steepest annual decline (24.4 points).
IAM Member Impact: Members should build additional buffer time into transit estimates, particularly on lanes served by lower-reliability carriers, and flag potential delays proactively with clients.
Source: Container News