Global schedule reliability, particularly in shipping, continued to improve in June 2025. A report by Sea-Intelligence indicated that schedule reliability reached its highest level since November 2023, with a 1.7 percentage point month-on-month increase to 58.7% in April. This improvement is a positive trend, but it's important to note that the new alliances were still in the process of being fully rolled out.
This improvement is a positive trend, but it's important to note that the new alliances were still in the process of being fully rolled out.
On a Y/Y level, the April score was higher by 6.5 percentage points. Maersk was the most reliable top-13 carrier in April 2025 with schedule reliability of 73.4%, followed by Hapag-Lloyd at 72.3% and MSC at 60.7%.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Positive Trend:
Global schedule reliability in shipping has been on the rise, reaching a recent high point in April 2025.
Specific Figures:
In April, schedule reliability improved to 58.7%, a 1.7 percentage point increase compared to the previous month.
New Alliances:
The new alliances, like the Gemini Cooperation between Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, are showing strong performance in terms of schedule reliability. For example, the Gemini Cooperation recorded 90.7% reliability for all arrivals and 87.0% for trade arrivals.
In March/April 2025, Gemini Cooperation recorded 90.7% schedule reliability across ALL arrivals, and 87.0% across TRADE arrivals, followed by MSC at 69.8% for ALL arrivals and 77.3% for TRADE arrivals, while Premier Alliance recorded 53.0% for ALL arrivals and 51.3% across TRADE Arrivals. For the outgoing alliances, “ALL arrivals” are equal to “TRADE arrivals”, and Ocean Alliance scored 51.1%, while THE Alliance scored 49.8%, and 2M scored 33.5%. It is important to stress though, that the new alliances will only be fully rolled out in July 2025, and only then will it be possible to truly evaluate their performance.
Focus on All Arrivals:
A new measure for the new alliances, focusing on "all arrivals" (including origin calls) to ensure comparability with previous performance has been introduced in the analysis.
Future Evaluation:
The full impact of the new alliances on global schedule reliability will be clearer once they are fully rolled out in July 2025.
Overall Ocean Carrier Reliability Q1 2025
Highlights
- Maersk retains the top spot in eeSea's Schedule Reliability Scorecard for 2025 Q1, with an on-time percentage of 45% - a spot they have held continuously since 2021 Q4
- Zim takes second spot, followed by Cosco in third; CMA CGM drops from second to fifth
- Hapag-Lloyd jumps from 8th in January to second in March 2025 - a monthly spot they have never held since eeSea started measuring in 2020
Overall ranking
Maersk retains the no 1 spot in 2025 Q1, which they have held since 2021 Q4. The Copenhagen-based company scored a 45% OTP in Q1 overall, and 53% in March.
They were pipped to the top spot for four consecutive months from February through May 2024, when measured monthly. However, in Q1 2025 the gap to second place is again growing.
Zim takes second spot in Q1 (34%), followed by Cosco in third (32%). CMA CGM, who have been second in the last two quarterly rankings, drop to fifth (27%).
The race for second and third place, however, is crowded with 7 of the reported 12 carriers coming in between 18% and 30% in Q1. Hyundai finish bottom, at 10% OTP - having been in the bottom three since 2020 Q3.