CONTAINERSHIP reliability reached a new record high in the fourth quarter of 2012 with the percentage of on-time ship arrivals across all trades increasing to 79.9 per cent
Quarterly box ship reliability hits record high with 80pc on time
CONTAINERSHIP reliability reached a new record high in the fourth quarter of 2012 with the percentage of on-time ship arrivals across all trades increasing to 79.9 per cent, a rise of 6.4 percentage points compared with the preceding third quarter.
The new ship reliability record eclipsed the previous best of 75.7 per cent set in the second quarter of 2012.
This was disclosed in the latest publication of Drewry's quarterly report, Carrier Performance Insight, which showed significant quarter-on-quarter increases in reliability in the last three months of 2012 based on ship-level and container-level Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The latest on-time score also means that the on-time percentage stayed in the 70-80 per cent range for the whole of 2012, whereas previously it had not risen above 69 per cent in any quarter since Drewry started measuring ship reliability at the end of 2005.
Hanjin Shipping usurped Maersk Line as the most reliable major carrier with an all-trades on-time average of 90.2 per cent in the fourth quarter.
Container-level data showed a similar gain with all four main container KPIs improving by at least two per cent points in the fourth quarter. Most significantly, the 'On-Time Shipment of Cargo' KPI, which measures the timeliness of a container being loaded on to the ship, improved by six percentage points to 75 per cent.
But it is highly probable that the average will come down in the first quarter as cancelled sailings are expected to play havoc with operations.
"While carriers deserve plaudits for their improving reliability, a worrying trend for cancelled or blank voyages is emerging as carriers attempt to redress weak supply and demand fundamentals," said Simon Heaney, research manager at Drewry.
Drewry is hearing of shippers building in specific clauses into contracts to alleviate the potential disruption of missed sailings by committing volumes against actual services rather than a carrier, as is standard practice. Blank voyages are making life tougher for shippers, who already have to contend with the looming threat of strike action at US east and Gulf coast ports.
"It is important for carrier-shipper relations that at the very least lines keep their customers informed well ahead of time, especially if they want to justify future general rate increases. It is difficult to make the case for rate hikes when the customer service is deteriorating," Mr Heaney said.
