CONTAINER shipping companies are "worryingly neglecting" their product offering to customers to cut costs, particularly, with regard to reliability, according to London's Drewry Maritime Research.
It said service reliability declined for the fifth consecutive quarter in the first quarter of 2013 with the on-time average slipping to 61 per cent, according to Drewry's research.
The number one ocean liner that has long touted service reliability and promised an on-time target of 95 per cent is a classic example of carriers forsaking "reliability as a means to differentiate themselves", says the analysts.
The Danish shipping company suffered a 10-percentage point fall in the first quarter of this year, compared to the previous month, to 70 per cent. Over the last two years it scored in the mid-80 per cent range.
The carrier's performance was hit by poorer reliability from the ships operated by its partners on services that Maersk slot charters.
The Danish line's own operated ships had a reliability average of 82 per cent, the second best behind Hamburg Sud's operated ships at 91 per cent.
The report highlighted that the falling reliability levels -the worst since 2Q11 - had been at the mercy of bad weather in Asia and Europe. They are also described as being "symptomatic of a breakdown" in the network operations of shipping lines.
The sample of voyages was lower than normal owing to a "high number of vessels simply not materialising at the scheduled port or arriving outside of our four-day early to 10-day late (estimated time of arrival) ETA threshold to have been included".
Drewry suspects that part of the problem is due to carriers shuffling vessels around in anticipation of new alliance and service structures. Late changes are also being made to original schedules in an attempt to balance supply and demand.
"Delays in the ocean leg are causing major productivity issues for ports that are unsure when ships will arrive. The inability to plan effectively is causing bottlenecks, lengthening dwell time and reducing storage capacity.
"All of these operational inefficiencies add cost to carriers, from longer stays at ports to handling customer complaints, so it could be argued that it is in the lines' best interests to maintain reliable services.
"Yet, that message seems to have been lost - it could be that carriers were not willing to speed up vessels to get back on schedule, for cost reasons," the report said.
WORLD SHIPPING
27 July 2014 - 22:18
Reliability deteriorates as box carriers cut costs, keep rates low
CONTAINER shipping companies are "worryingly neglecting" their product offering to customers to cut costs, particularly, with regard to reliability, according to London's Drewry Maritime Research.
WORLD SHIPPING
27 July 2014 - 22:18
Reliability deteriorates as box carriers cut costs, keep rates low
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