October 28, 2026. Global container schedule reliability rose 0.9 percentage points in September to 50.6 %, according to Sea-Intelligence's Global Liner Performance report published today. It is the first improvement after three monthly declines that added up to 14.8 points from May's peak of 64.5 %.
September results
The report covers 34 trade lanes and more than 60 carriers:
- The average delay of late vessels fell 0.30 days to 6.65 days, still the second highest for a September.
- Maersk was the most reliable of the 13 largest carriers at 64.8 %, followed by Hapag-Lloyd (60.4 %), MSC (57.7 %) and CMA CGM (51.8 %). Wan Hai was lowest at 26.7 %.
- Ten of the 13 carriers improved on August; ZIM gained the most, 4.7 points.
- Compared with September 2025, none of the 13 improved.
Asian ports under the most pressure
In its September 30 report, Sea-Intelligence put August reliability in Asia at 32.3 %, amid heavy port congestion, with late ships arriving 7.28 days late on average. China was the most affected country at 23.9 %, and Shanghai and Ningbo fell to 12.2 % and 16.9 %.
Kuehne+Nagel's Seaexplorer report, with its own method, put September global reliability at 51.6 %. In that report, Asia–South America West Coast was the only Asia-linked lane to improve, while Asia–South America East Coast fell to 34.5 %.
Planning around delays
Our take: September's gain is small but encouraging, and delays can be managed if they are built into the purchase order.
- Add a week of buffer to transit times.
- When comparing freight quotes, ask which carrier will carry the cargo: the gap between the best and worst of the top 13 is more than 38 points.
- Set delivery terms and who bears each leg's risk in the sales contract.
- Inspect before the goods leave the factory with a product inspection, so a quality problem does not stack on top of a vessel delay.
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