Container Shipping Schedule Reliability Falls to 27% in September 2026

Global container shipping schedule reliability fell to 27% in September 2026, according to Xeneta's Schedule Reliability Scorecard, marking the fourth consecutive month of deterioration and a 2 percentage point drop from August, matching the low recorded in February. The average arrival delay rose to six days, an increase of 2.4 days since the start of the second quarter. Xeneta attributed the deterioration to the cumulative effects of a series of typhoons that hit Asia between July and early September, combined with fuel cost pressures and strong peak-season demand, warning that no firm floor is expected in October.

The Far East-Europe trade collapsed to just 4% reliability, with an average delay of 9.9 days, its worst performance since September 2021, when it had touched 3% during the pandemic. The Far East-North America trade held steady at 20% reliability, though the average delay rose 0.8 days to 6.9 days. Meanwhile, spot rates from China to the US West Coast reached $7,717 per FEU in early October, more than four times the $1,778 recorded in September 2025, while long-term contract rates climbed 26% month-on-month to $3,649 per FEU on October 1.

The Europe-North America trade was the most reliable for the second consecutive month, improving by 8 percentage points to 49% reliability, its highest level since August 2025, and posting the lowest average delay among all trades, at 1.9 days. The South America West Coast and East Coast trades were the only ones to improve on both metrics, gaining 10 and 12 percentage points respectively and cutting average delays by up to one day.

Every carrier surveyed recorded its highest average delay of the past 12 months in September, and four of them hit 12-month lows in reliability: CMA CGM at 30%, Cosco at 18%, Hapag-Lloyd at 45%, and Yang Ming at 4%. The gap between the most and least reliable carrier narrowed to 43 percentage points, down from 45 in August, as Maersk, the month's most punctual carrier, fell from 51% to 47%. The Gemini network, operated by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, dropped from 70% reliability in June to 40% in September, with weekly rates falling from 62% in the first week of August to 34% in the week of September 28, and partial data for the week of October 5 showing 28%.

Port congestion shifted from China to Southeast Asia: the average daily queue of vessels at Singapore nearly doubled, from 12 to 22 ships, with waiting times rising from 1.9 to 3.1 days. Across Southeast Asia as a whole, the average wait reached 2.0 days, with 23% of vessels waiting, while Africa remained the most congested region despite improving to a 2.5-day wait with 32% of vessels waiting. At Shanghai, the anchorage queue shortened from 101 to 86 vessels per day, though the average wait lengthened from 1.9 to 2.7 days. In response, carriers canceled just 6% of planned capacity on Far East-Europe and 8% on Far East-North America in September, but announced blank sailing cuts of at least 17% and 13% respectively for October, when planned capacity on the Europe trade will be the highest in a 22-month window.