Q2 schedule reliability drops over 30%: eeSea

Total average schedule reliability dropped by more than 30 percent compared to previous quarter (from -3.2 days in Q1 to -4.2 days in Q2).

"Newly established routes around the Cape of Good Hope may have increased

instability into first ports of call like Tanger Med – leading to exceptional decline in the Far East-Mediterranean," says the latest update from eeSea.

Despite uncertainty of possible strike actions, West Coast North America is the only coastal region that saw actual improvement in average delays, from -4 days in Q1 to -3.6 days in Q2, largely due to positive U.S. port performance, the update added.

Maersk (-2.7 days) fell just behind Pacific International (-2.6 days) in operator rankings after a four-year winning streak, and was also narrowly edged out by CMA CGM (-3.5 days) in the vessel sharing agreement (VSA) rankings.

"Livorno (-1.4 days) returned to 1st place ranking after being uprooted last quarter by Guayaquil (-1.6 days), which retreated to 3rd place. The top 10 and top 20 were dominated by European ports in Q2. Laem Chabang gained an additional 48 hours of delay and dropped from 20th to 25th, causing the Asia region to lose its lead."

Singapore, one of the world’s largest transhipment hubs, came close to entering the Top-50 in Q2 but gained 48 hours in average delay and fell from 62nd to 66th – likely due in part to severe congestion that has lasted for six weeks.

Long Beach has moved up to 28th place from 44th in Q1, and Los Angeles joined the ranks of the Top-50 in 45th place, up from 55th in Q1.

With average delays up by one day into Northern European ports and an additional -3.3 days into the Mediterranean in Q2, it is likely that Q3 may also be difficult, the update added. "Extended transit around the Cape of Good Hope due to the Red Sea conflict, and thus shift in carriers’ first discharge ports, may have contributed to the striking decline on the Med trade from Q1 (-2.6 days) to Q2 (-5.9 days)."