Maersk has regularly been a leader in schedule reliability and plans to improve over the next two years. The mega-carrier is targeting on-time delivery by the end of 2011 of 90% on-time to last container yard and by the end of 2012, 95% on-time to last container yard. By George Lauriat, Editor-in-Chief, AJOTIn 2010 mega-container ship carrier, Maersk Line, posted a profit of $2.6 billion for 2010. This was a substantial improvement on a sluggish 2009, but as the Company was quick to point out, it compared very favorably to the more relevant year 2008, when the carrier tallied only $205 million. Despite the very strong showing, Maersk Line, arguably the world’s largest boxship operator, lost market share in 2010 and wants it back. Besides ordering larger ships, 18,000 teus, the Danish mega-carrier wants to use service reliability as the difference maker with shippers. Group CEO Nils Andersen in his report on 2010 said, “Our reliability is top of the industry, customer satisfaction is at an all time high, and Triple-E will set new standards for the industry…In 2011, Maersk Line aims at winning back the market share it lost in 2010, but not through rate dumping, but by delivering a superior product as regards reliability, availability and customer service.” And Maersk Line is doing a great job at service schedule reliability already. According to Drewry Maritime Research, Maersk Line has ranked number one in service schedule reliability for 10 of the past 11 quarters. In Drewry’s Schedule Reliability Insight report Maersk, APL and Hyundai Merchant Marine scored the best for the fourth quarter of 2010. Maersk posted a 70.2% reliability score with APL notching 67.7% and Hyundai 67.6%, while the industry as a whole averages 55%. Service reliability is difficult to maintain as it is influenced by political events such as those in Egypt, Libya, Somalia and the Middle East in general and also natural events such as weather or as in the more extreme cases, the March earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe in Japan. Even changes in economic patterns will impact schedules, sometimes extending the supply chain and making it more difficult to maintain schedules. Last year was a good example, as following two consecutive increases in the second and third quarters of 2010, container service reliability disappointingly fell back in the fourth quarter, according to Drewry Maritime Research’s 2010 fourth quarter Schedule Reliability Insight Report. 
According to the report, the proportion of the 3,027 vessel calls arriving on time at selected ports around the world during October-December decreased to 55%, down from 60% in the third quarter. The 4Q10 reliability performance was slightly better than the 53% on-time score recorded in the same period of 2009.

 While Maersk Line posted a score of over 70.2% for reliability overall, the score rose to 87.1% when VSAs (Vessel Sharing Agreements) were factored out. The “on-time” score is based on satisfying the scheduled arrival time within a 24-hour period. However, Maersk uses a more stringent 12-hour metric for measuring on-time performance. In North America, ML reliability is 88% (within 24 hours of scheduled arrival time) or 80% (within 12 hours of scheduled arrival). Breaking down the North American traffic, Maersk’s reliability on the Pacific trades is 91% (within 24 hours of scheduled arrival time). The Maersk Line on-time delivery target by the end of 2011 is 90% on-time to last container yard and by the end of 2012, 95% on-time to last container yard. Maersk believes schedule reliability is key to the customer managing their inventories and supply chains more efficiently. Late shipments can lead to lost revenue and profit and, for some, a critical time delivery (such as a perishable item, or a “hot” product”). By having consistent delivery times shippers plan movement through the supply chain, avoiding penalties and other fees. Maersk, like other ocean carriers, believes that one of the critical compone