Global container shipping reliability reaches 2026 high in May

Global container shipping schedule reliability improved again in May 2026, reaching its highest level of the year, according to Sea-Intelligence.

The latest Global Liner Performance report showed that schedule reliability rose by 2.5 percentage points from April to 64.7% in May. It was the third monthly improvement in a row since March.

However, reliability was still 1.2 percentage points lower than in May 2025. Delays also remained a concern. The average delay for late vessel arrivals increased slightly to 5.52 days, up 0.04 days from April and 0.88 days from a year earlier.

Among the 13 largest carriers, Maersk was the most reliable in May, with schedule reliability of 78.2%. Hapag-Lloyd followed with 76.0%, while MSC reached 71.6%. Six carriers recorded reliability between 60% and 70%, and three were in the 50% to 60% range. Wan Hai had the lowest result among the top carriers, at 38.0%.

Sea-Intelligence said nine of the 13 major carriers improved month-on-month, while eight recorded better reliability compared with May 2025.

Alliance performance also showed wide differences. In April and May 2026, Gemini Cooperation reached 89.5% schedule reliability across all arrivals and 91.4% across trade arrivals. MSC followed with 79.5% and 79.7%, respectively. Premier Alliance recorded 53.4% across all arrivals and 54.0% across trade arrivals, while Ocean Alliance stood at 69.7%.

For fruit, vegetable and other perishable cargo exporters, the improvement is positive because more predictable vessel arrivals can help with planning, cold-chain management and delivery schedules. Still, the average delay of more than five days shows that shipping disruption has not disappeared.

source and graphics: sea-intelligence.com