Global Liner Performance in 2014

Monday, 16 March 2015 00:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

SeaIntel Maritime Analysis has recently released the global liner performance in 2014. Here are some highlights Global Executive Summary 2014 was a challenging year as many incidents around the World had a negative impact on schedule reliability. The year began with a number of heavy winter storms on the US east coast and in the North Atlantic Ocean, which impacted port operations on the US east coast and delayed vessels to and from North Europe, respectively. Over the summer congestion was a significant issue in the major hub ports in Northern Europe which led to changes in some of the carriers’ services and omitted port calls. The single incident that impacted carriers and shippers the most in 2014 was the heavy congestion we have seen in Los Angeles, Long Beach and in the main ports on the northwest coast, a problem that is still on-going as we enter 2015. Finally, the industry has also been witness to congestion in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Qingdao and a number of other major ports during the year. These incidents have had a negative impact on schedule reliability and it is visible in the development throughout 2014 as global schedule reliability decreased by 7.6 percentage points Y/Y to an overall performance of 72.2%.

Top20 carrier performance The negative development in global schedule reliability is clearly visible in the performance of the Top20 carriers, as 19 of 20 carriers have seen a negative development in their performance. CSAV was the only Top20 carrier to see their global schedule reliability increase, by 0.8 percentage points Y/Y. Hamburg Süd and Maersk Line saw the lowest decline in schedule reliability Y/Y, as their performances decreased 3.2 and 4.1 percentage points, respectively. As in 2013, Maersk Line and Hamburg Süd were also the most reliable carriers in 2014, with a global performance of 83.7% and 82.2%, respectively. CSAV was the third most reliable carrier with a score of 77.8%. In terms of ranking of the global carriers CSAV gained 15 spots, as the Chilean carrier was the only Top20 carrier that managed to improve performance from 2013 to 2014. CSAV benefitted from not being engaged in the Transpacific trade and only in a few service to North Europe, two regions that have been plagued by congestion in 2014. Finally, CMA CGM, Hapag Lloyd and MSC have each gained five spots. Asia – Europe – FY 2014 Tradelane Summary Schedule reliability declined Y/Y in both the Asia-North Europe and Asia Mediterranean trade lanes. Performance in the Asia-North Europe trade lane dropped by 13.8 percentage points Y/Y to 67.2%, while schedule reliability in the Asia-Mediterranean trade lane decreased from 73.9% in 2013 to 69.8% in 2014. In the Asia-North Europe trade lane Maersk Line was again in 2014 the most reliable carrier with a significant gap to their nearest competitors, as in 2013. In 2014 Maersk Line recorded a schedule reliability of 96.2%, which was 35.2 percentage points above the industry average. Maersk Line was followed by some of the smaller carriers in the trade lane, as Wan Hai and PIL reached a performance of 82.7% and 97.7%, respectively. In the Asia-Mediterranean trade lane CSAV was the most reliable carrier in 2014, with a performance of 93.9% through their slot-charter agreement on MSC’s Tiger service. CSAV was followed by the 2M carriers, Maersk Line and MSC, as they recorded a schedule reliability of 78% and 74.4%, respectively.

Transpacific EB – FY 2014 Tradelane Summary Following a stable Transpacific EB schedule reliability performance in 2012 and 2013, 2014 turned out to me a nightmare for both shippers and carriers in the Asia to US west coast trade from August and onwards. It began in June with a shortage of truck power that contributed to delays. Hereafter, the carriers reported congestion in Los Angeles/Long Beach and Vancouver in July, and in September New York and Norfolk were added to the list. In October, Norfolk and New York were removed from the list of trouble areas, and the carriers started experiencing congestion in Seattle and Tacoma, and a few services calling Los Angeles/Long Beach were suspended as congestion continued. By the end of the year, carriers could conclude that the situation in Los Angeles/Long Beach had worsened, with many vessels at anchor waiting for a berthing slot and turnaround times in the ports had increased as well. The situation has neither improved in Vancouver, Tacoma or Seattle, and Oakland had also been added to the list of ports facing serious congestion. The consequence of this was that schedule reliability decreased by 17.5 percentage points Y/Y to 62.3%. The three most reliable carriers in the trade lane through the year were Matson, Hamburg Süd and Westwood Shipping, with a score of 96.2%, 81.3% and 80.4%, respectively. These three carriers must be considered to be some of the smaller carriers in the trade lane, so if we look at the best performing carriers of the major operators in the trade lane, we find that the three smaller carriers were followed by Maersk Line, Evergreen and CSCL, with a performance of 68.8%, 67.9% and 66.1%, respectively.

Maersk Line tops reliability score amid global dip

Despite a challenging year with extreme weather and adverse conditions in some ports, Maersk Line remains the most reliable carrier in 2014 as revealed by the latest SeaIntel report. The 2014 global reliability results by maritime analyst SeaIntel shows that Maersk Line remained the number one carrier amidst an industry-wide dip in scores. Maersk Line delivered a score of 83.7% against an industry average (top 20 carriers) of 72.2%. “We are pleased that Maersk Line retained its position and performed with significant industry gap.,” says Head of Operations Execution Keith Svendsen. Maersk Line is followed by Hamburg Süd at 82.2% and CSAV coming in third at 77.8%. Industry-wide decline A 4.1% drop in reliability compared to 2013 was noted for Maersk Line as the rest of the industry experienced a substantial dip in scores. Heavy winter storms in the US east coast and in the North Atlantic Ocean, congestions of port hubs in Northern Europe, the United States and in Asia all contributed to the global schedule reliability decline of 7.6%. Maersk Line’s performance on trade routes In the Asia-North Europe trade, Maersk Line maintained leadership with a schedule reliability of 96.2%. Maersk Line only comes in second for the Asia-Mediterranean trade lane and fourth in the Transpacific Eastbound. SeaIntel will report on the vessel-sharing agreement between Maersk Line and MSC on all East-West trades (2M) when all vessels are phased in and the 2M network is stable. After that, the quarterly report will include other alliances.