Timely improvement by box lines

A steady improvement has taken place, with the percentage of ships arriving, on time at selected ports rising to 56% in the second quarter of 2011.

In the same period last year, the on-time reliability figure stood at 52%, Drewry says.

Despite continued freight rate erosion, shippers are getting better service on east-west routes.

Reliability rose most for the Asia-Europe-Mediterranean trades, which increased by 13% against the previous period to 62% in the April-June period.

Maersk Line regained its position as the most reliable of the top 20 carriers across all the trades covered by Drewry.

APL and Chilean carrier CSAV followed closely.

Maersk was the best in the Asia-Europe-Mediterranean trades, while APL and Hamburg Sd came out on top in the transpacific and transatlantic trades respectively.

“Improved reliability scores, [which were] achieved by virtually all of the major lines, is welcome news,” said Drewry’s Simon Heaney.

For the original story, please visit Lloyd's List at www.lloydslist.com.