Maersk Line ship in port

A new research report has highlighted the reliability of Maersk Line's container services when measured against the other 19 leading container lines in the industry.

The report, a joint effort between ecommerce network provider Inttra and container shipping analyst SeaIntel, examined the performance of the top 20 container lines on the basis of schedule reliability.

Over the past year, the report found, Maersk Line has been the number one carrier in eight of the months and number two in four of the months, while it also showed that the Daily Maersk service had boosted reliability in June – a month when many carriers saw reliability dip.

'Maersk Line reached a 98 per cent on time performance to North Europe in June, which is the highest performance seen in 2012 of any carrier, which clearly shows not only their commitment to the Daily Maersk concept but also their operational capability of actully delivering it,' the report stated.

The June result was significant because it marked the end of a three-month period known for a lack of reliability, with Daily Maersk achieving a 97 per cent reliability score.

'This year has been a bit special,' said Vincent Clerc, Maersk Line's chief trading and marketing officer. 'Many carriers have adjusted their networks after the Chinese New Year as they phased in new cooperation, such as the G6 or the cooperation between MSC and CMA. It has been a tough time for customers, but overall the product offering on Asia-Europe will be greatly enhanced as a result. I guess it is another positive impact for Daily Maersk.

??'For Maersk Line though the situation is a bit different,' he added. 'The Daily Maersk product is designed to be stable. We are mapping network changes in advance, so no matter how much we slow down the vessels or alter port calls or vessel rotations, the customer doesn't feel it. Reliability is something customers must experience consistently and we are happy to see through these numbers that we are able to deliver this better than anybody else.'