After experiencing a steady progression since the beginning of 2025, the on-time arrival of container ships at destination ports took a step back in July. In the month, Sea-Intelligence noted, 65.2% of vessels arrived ‘on time’, compared to 67.3% in June (-2.2 percentage points) and against the 51.4% reached by the parameter in January. In July, the company also found that the average delay of ships that did not meet the schedule worsened, reaching 4.68 days (an increase of 0.14 days).
The ranking of the most punctual operators, however, remained very similar to that of previous months, with Maersk once again at the top (80.6% reliability), followed by its (Gemini) partner Hapag Lloyd (74%). Six other carriers, Sea-Intelligence added without specifying which ones, were in the 60%-70% range, while the remaining ones (of the total 13 analyzed) were in the range with an average punctuality of 50-60%, with Hmm in last place with a percentage of 50.7%.
Given that the new networks launched by the alliances that started in February were not yet fully implemented in the months of June and July, Sea-Intelligence continued to offer a double measurement, the first based on the reliability of ship arrivals at all ports served by the new lines, the second relating only to destination ports, i.e., where commercial operations are planned (the method the company usually uses to monitor this parameter).
Gemini was the most punctual entity in both cases (performance in the order of 92% and 89.6%), followed by MSC in second place (with 76.5% and 76.2% respectively). The Premier Alliance, however, achieved performances, in order, of 54.6% and 54.8%, thus surpassed by the ‘old’ Ocean Alliance (for which only arrival at destination ports is measured) with 69.4%.
