Maersk Line confirmed as most reliable carrier

Sunday, 14 November 2010 21:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

During the third quarter Maersk Line consolidated its position as the most reliable of the top 20 largest carriers.

On own strings, however, the reliability performance ranks among that of the world’s most punctual airlines.

Maersk Line increased its schedule reliability performance to 78.9% between July and September — up more than two percentage points from its second quarter performance of 76.5%, according to the ‘Schedule Reliability Insight Q4 2010’ report by Drewry Shipping Consultants.

While the industry average reliability increased to 60%, the strings wholly operated by Maersk Line recorded a reliability performance of 91.4% — quite an achievement, according to the Head of Operations Execution, Asger S. B. Lauritsen.

“On our own strings, we have shown to be on a par with the some of the world’s largest and most punctual airlines,” states Lauritsen. “Scandinavian Airlines scored 92.8% during August and was crowned the world’s most reliable, but it offers far more direct routes and only tends to cover one weather zone.”

“This underlines the scale of our achievement and gives us the belief that we can close in on our target of 95%,” Lauritsen says, and adds: “The constant improvement in our schedule reliability is of great importance to our customers, and we’re proud to offer them the industry’s most reliable service.”

Still improvements to be made

The major restraining factor once again is the reliability of the strings covered by Vessel Sharing Agreements (VSA) and slot charters.

While it appears that, in reliability performance terms, only Maersk Line’s partners benefit from shared services, Lauritsen points out that only by “imposing our way” in these alliances has Maersk Line been able to retain its number one position.

“It’s clear that we need to be stricter with our partners if we are to hit 95% reliability,” he says. “But the report shows that the efforts we have already put in to these partnerships are starting to pay off.”