In September, delayed container ships arriving at international ports were, on average, 5.67 days late, according to Danish consultancy Sea-Intelligence. While delays during the COVID-19 years of 2021–2022 were even higher, current disruptions—driven by the Red Sea crisis—have pushed delays up again.
Average delays in September nearly matched those of September 2022. At the start of that pandemic year, delays peaked at 8 days before gradually falling. Last year, container lines managed to reduce average delays below 4.5 days, but attacks on ships in the Red Sea by the Houthis caused delays to climb above 6 days earlier this year. When carriers rerouted Asia-Europe services via the Cape of Good Hope, delays temporarily decreased, falling below 5 days in April.
From May onwards, Western importers began bringing in holiday inventory earlier than usual due to reliability concerns, starting the peak season unusually early and increasing pressure on container capacity. Delays have since risen again, with September marking a temporary peak.
Rising average delays are compounded by a lower percentage of ships arriving on time. Sea-Intelligence’s Global Schedule Reliability report shows that 51.4% of container ships adhered to their schedules in September—a 1.2% drop from August. While better than the worst pandemic periods (when only one in three ships was on time), it is significantly below last year’s 60%+ reliability before the Houthi attacks.
Only two carriers achieved over 50% on-time performance in September: Maersk (55.5%) and CMA CGM (50.9%). Hapag-Lloyd fell below 50%. Next year, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd will form the new Gemini Alliance, aiming to raise schedule reliability above 90% through revamped service schedules.
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