Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd emerged as the most reliable container lines in December 2025, standing out in a month where global schedule reliability slipped once again.
According to analysts at Sea-Intelligence, overall container line schedule reliability fell by 1.2 percentage points to 62.8%, marking the second-lowest performance since May 2025.
Data from Sea-Intelligence’s Global Liner Report, which tracks more than 60 carriers across 34 major trade routes, shows that while December’s figures were disappointing month-on-month, the industry has made notable progress compared with a year earlier.
Schedule reliability improved by nine percentage points compared with December 2024, signalling a gradual recovery from last year’s widespread disruption.
Among the top 13 carriers, only four managed to improve their reliability between November and December 2025.
Yet every one of the leading carriers recorded better performance than they did a year ago, underlining the broader upward trend despite recent setbacks.
Maersk topped the table with schedule reliability of 76.7%, closely followed by Hapag-Lloyd at 72.5%. MSC and HMM operated in the 60–70% range, while most of the remaining major carriers clustered between 50% and 60%.
At the bottom of the top-tier group, Wan Hai Lines posted the weakest result, with reliability at 47.8%.
The figures highlight a sector still wrestling with consistency, but with Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd setting the benchmark for dependable service as the industry continues its uneven recovery.