- Sea-Intelligence Introduces New Metric to Track Liner Service Disruptions.
- Post-Pandemic Era Sees 2.5–3.5x Rise in Weekly Service Instability.
- Asia–Europe and Mediterranean Trades Face Sharpest Increases in Instability.
In Issue 735 of the Sea-Intelligence Sunday Spotlight, analysts took a closer look at a key reason behind shippers’ growing frustration with service instability. Although liner shipping is meant to offer a consistent weekly service, disruptions frequently happen, even when vessels arrive on time, according to traditional reliability standards. To shed light on these often-overlooked disruptions, Sea-Intelligence introduced a new service instability metric that tracks the percentage of liner services on a trade that faced a non-standard missing or added sailing, reports Sea-Intelligence.
Frequency of Disruptions Rises Sharply Post-Pandemic
The analysis reveals a significant change in service stability when comparing the pre- and post-pandemic periods. The rate of weekly disruptions in 2024-2025 has surged by 2.5 to 3.5 times compared to the 2012–2019 timeframe. For instance, on the Asia–North America West Coast trade, instability has averaged 56%, a stark rise from just 23% before the pandemic, marking a 2.5-fold increase. During the pandemic, volatility even soared above 100%, highlighting the extent of operational chaos.
All Major Trades Show Elevated Instability
This pattern is evident across major east-west trades:
- Asia–North America East Coast: Instability increased by a factor of 2.9
- Asia–North Europe: Up by a factor of 3.3
- Asia–Mediterranean: Up by a factor of 3.4
Shippers Face a “New Normal” of Frequent Weekly Disruptions
These insights confirm a significant operational shift in global liner shipping. Shippers are now grappling with more frequent cancellations and serious delays, with weekly sailings often going missing altogether. Essentially, an increasing number of scheduled services either fail to depart as planned or are delayed enough to push into the next week, leaving the intended week without a sailing and heightening uncertainty throughout supply chains.
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Source: Sea Intelligence
